TEHRAN -- The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy on Tuesday tested various types of advanced missiles and combat drones during a large-scale military exercise in the strategic Persian Gulf region.
Speaking on the sidelines of the drill, IRGC Navy chief Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri said a wide range of high-tech military weapons and equipment were used in the drill, including naval cruise missile systems, bomber drones and smart unmanned underwater systems.
Tangsiri said the drill featured the cruise missile system in different classes, bomber and precision drones that can simultaneously hit multiple targets, smart unmanned subsurface systems, helicopter rocket firing, and heliborne operations by Navy commando forces on mobile and floating positions.
The IRGC Navy commander added that the salient features of the Tuesday’s drill included combat operations by assault vessels and the launch of naval cruise missiles and rockets, naval mine-laying in the drill zone, and detonation of a single target by cruise missiles fired from two different locations.
He said the drill’s entire operational stages were completed with total success.
The IRGC Navy commander said the technology used in the exercise was designed and developed based on the threats and military activities of the enemy, and that the military equipment and weapons employed in the maneuver were completely indigenous and domestically-manufactured.
Tangsiri said the forces also practiced amphibious assault against the enemy’s naval bases and facilities as well as coordination and interoperability with the use of the integrated air defense network of the IRGC and the Iranian Army’s Air Force, among others.
He said that the Iranian naval forces have ensured sustainable security in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, and that extra-regional forces are well aware of Iran’s preparedness to act decisively against any threat or adventurism.
Iranian military forces hold routine exercises according to a detailed schedule in various parts of the country in order to test their weaponry and equipment and evaluate their combat preparedness.
Iranian officials have repeatedly underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran’s defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiations.