The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force plans to hold a large-scale air defense exercise in the near future, commander of the force announced. Addressing a cultural event in Tehran on Thursday, Lieutenant General Amir Ali Hajizadeh unveiled plans for a massive wargame to practice air defense tactics, Tasnim News Agency reported. "A whole range of air defense equipment will be utilized in the drill, including radars, command and control systems and ground-to-air missiles," he explained. Hajizadeh noted that all the military gear to be used in the drill has been designed and manufactured by domestic experts. In December 2016, the aerospace division of IRGC worked in cooperation with the Army's Air Defense Base in a large-scale exercise, codenamed Defenders of Velayat Skies 7. Involving more than 17,000 military forces, the wargame covered an area of 496,000 square kilometers in Iran's southern areas, mainly the provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr and Khuzestan.
