Iran’s army on Tuesday launched a two – day campaign of air exercises to combat and monitor unmanned aircraft, as well as ‘suicide drones’ designed to wipe out targets from above, state media reported.
Hundreds of combat drones are taking part in the ‘first major drone exercise’ held by the Iranian army in the central province of Semnan, reports the state-run news agency IRNA.
“The exercise will include the detection and destruction of air targets using air-to-air missiles and will also include the destruction of targets on the ground using bombs and precision missiles,” the news service reported, referring to agteradm. Mahmoud Mousavi, Deputy Commander of the Army.
According to the Associated Press, Iran has previously conducted exercises with military drones, but these exercises were launched days after the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who died during a US drone air strike at the International Airport Baghdad.
As part of the two-day exercises, Mousavi said suicide drinking would be extensively tested. A US official told Reuters last year that the unmanned aircraft could carry out a “kamikaze” mission if it was full of explosives and flown directly into a target.
The exercises also include unmanned aerial vehicles sent by the Iranian navy into the southern waters of the country, as well as ‘long-haul flights aimed at suicide bombers’ aimed at destroying foreign enemies, Mousavi said.
Since the murder of Soleimani, U.S. officials have feared a retaliatory attack.
President Trump on Monday allegedly ordered the warship USS Nimitz to stay in the Persian Gulf after being told to return to Washington state.
“Due to recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other government officials, I have ordered the USS Nimitz to halt its routine redeployment,” Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said in a statement Sunday.
“No one may doubt the intent of the United States of America.”