Iran conducted a drone exercise involving surveillance and reconnaissance drones from the army, Iranian media said on Wednesday. This is part of a growing number of drills involving Iranian drones.
Iran has vastly expanded its drone use in recent years. While Iran has used them since the 1980s, it has decided to invest more in recent years because the technology behind drones enables it to export them to the region and also threaten adversaries using relatively simple and cheap technology.
According to the Iranian reports at Tasnim News, the joint drone exercise involved those from several forces of the army and they carried out various drills relating to monitoring targets. The goal was partly designed to showcase the UAVs’ use in monitoring borders.
Iran uses drones to monitor internal threats, such as Kurdish resistance groups that oppose the regime, as well as its border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The report said that the drills involved at least six types of Iranian drones. These included the well-known and advanced Ababil 3 and Mohajer 6, workhorses of the Iranian drone units. Other ones mentioned included the Yasir, Sadegh, Pelikan and Yazdan.
Different UAV bases
Several UAV bases were involved. Iran has recently expanded many of these bases, including those in the south along the Indian Ocean. Those drones, as well as the ones based near the Persian Gulf, pose a threat to shipping. Iran used kamikaze drones to strike at a ship in July 2021, used drones to monitor shipping and used them to harass US naval ships.
“In this exercise, only a small part of the achievements of the drones of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army will be used,” the report said. Tehran says the drill was designed to improve “combat readiness.”
Iran’s army and navy don’t usually use drones against the country’s adversaries, rather it is the Iranian IRGC that exports drones to proxy groups and has used them in recent operations against Israel, Gulf states and others.
The US said it carried out an airstrike on Thursday against pro-Iran forces in Syria. In the past, Iran has used drones in Syria to target and monitor US bases.
Source » jpost