The armed forces on Thursday started a massive military drill in an area covering 2.2 million square kilometers from the east of the Strait of Hormuz to the10th parallel north in the Indian Ocean and in parts of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan and the southern province of Hormozgan.
The army, navy, air force, air defense base and some units of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) are taking part in the maneuvers which will continue until December 31, IRNA reported.
In the first stage of the exercise, ground troops spread out across the theatre of operation and air defense and naval units took positions, IRNA reported.
On Friday, army forces, including missile and artillery units and the helicopter command, carried out a full-scale attack on mock enemy forces that had reached the country's southern coasts after clashing with naval forces. The fighter jets of the air force conducted operations to back ground troops at the request of the army and the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base supported the operations by establishing safe communications lines for Iranian forces and jamming electronic communications between enemy troops. In their assault, army units used domestically developed weapons, including the Akhgar rifle and Zolfaqar and Samsam battle tanks.
According to Fars news agency, the Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters destroyed mock enemy targets using rockets and light-caliber weapons and domestically manufactured unmanned aerial vehicles, including the Shahin drone, carried out reconnaissance missions.
Anti-armor Toofan and Dehlavieh missiles were fired and successfully hit the designated targets. The Dehlavieh missiles were fired from land-based missile launchers and helicopters. The Dehlavieh, which has an advanced guidance system that enables it to counter electronic warfare measures, is considered an efficient weapon against battle tanks.
