The Iranian military launched a two-day airstrike campaign on Tuesday involving unmanned combat and surveillance aircraft, as well as “suicide drones” designed to wipe out targets, state media reported.
Hundreds of combat drones are taking part in the “first major drone exercise” conducted by the Iranian army in the central province of Semnan, the state-controlled IRNA news agency reported.
“The exercise will include the pursuit and destruction of air targets by air-to-air missiles and will also include the destruction of ground targets by bombs and precision missiles,” the news service reported, citing rear administrator Mahmoud Mousavi, deputy commander of the army.
Iran has previously carried out exercises using military drones, according to the Associated Press, but these exercises were launched a few days after the one-year anniversary of the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who died in a US drone attack. at Baghdad International Airport.
As part of the two-day exercises, Mousavi said the suicide drones would be extensively tested. An American official told Reuters last year that the unmanned aircraft can perform a “kamikaze” mission when it is packed with explosives and flew directly into a target.
The exercises will also include unmanned aircraft sent by the Iranian navy to the country’s southern waters, as well as “long-range suicide drone flights” aimed at destroying foreign enemies, Mousavi said.
Since Soleimani’s assassination, US officials have feared a retaliatory attack.
President Trump allegedly ordered the warship USS Nimitz to remain in the Persian Gulf on Monday after he was told to return to Washington.
“Due to recent threats from Iranian leaders against President Trump and other government officials, we have ordered the USS Nimitz to stop routine redistribution,” Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said on Sunday.
“No one should doubt the decision of the United States of America.”