The Iranian military on Tuesday launched a two-day campaign of aerial drills involving unmanned combat and surveillance aircraft, as well as “suicide drones” designed to obliterate targets from above, state media reported.
Hundreds of combat drones are taking part in the “first major drone drill” conducted by the Iranian army in central Semnan province, the state-controlled IRNA news agency reported.
“The exercise will include the tracing and destruction of air targets by air-to-air missiles and will also include the destruction of targets on the ground by bombs and precision missiles,” the news service quoted co-administrator Mahmoud Mousavi as saying. deputy commander of the army.
Iran has previously conducted drills with military drones, according to the Associated Press, but these exercises were launched days after the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who died in an attack. with drones at Baghdad International Airport.
As part of the two-day exercises, Mousavi said suicide drones will be extensively tested. A U.S. official told Reuters last year that the drone can carry out a “kamikaze” mission when it is full of explosives and directly hits a target.
The drills will also incorporate drones sent by the Iranian navy into the country’s southern waters, as well as “long-range suicide drone flights” aimed at destroying foreign enemies, Mousavi said.
Since Soleimani’s assassination, U.S. officials have feared a retaliatory attack.
President Trump ordered Monday that the warship USS Nimitz stay in the Persian Gulf after he was told to return to Washington state.
“Because of recent threats by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other government officials, I have ordered the USS Nimitz to stop its routine redistribution,” Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said Sunday.
“No one should doubt the resolution of the United States of America.”