IRGC Navy holds drills in Gulf, uses wide range of weapons, equipment

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Jan 2023 15:35
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The IRGC Navy head says his troops have conducted defensive drills off the beaches of Farsi Island.

IRGC dills (Fars)

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy held a military exercise in the Gulf that witnessed the launch of various missiles, Tasnim reported on Tuesday.

The Iranian news agency cited IRGC Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri, as saying that a wide range of weapons and equipment were used during the exercise, including naval cruise missile systems, drones dropping bombs with pinpoint accuracy, unmanned smart submarine systems, and helicopter-fired rockets.

Tangsiri highlighted that IRGC Navy commandoes carried out heliborne operations during the drill.

According to the Iranian commander, the outstanding features of the drill included assault vessel combat operations and the launch of naval cruise missiles and rockets, naval minelaying in the exercise zone, and the destruction of a single target by cruise missiles launched from two distinct sites.

The IRGC Navy head further noted that his troops have conducted defensive drills off the beaches of Farsi Island and have used smart submarine weapons to strike and destroy the hypothetical enemy's naval and coastal sites in collaboration with Army Air Defense and Air Force units.

Tangsiri indicated that Iranian naval forces have secured long-term stability in the Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that extra-regional forces are well aware of Iran's readiness to respond firmly against any danger.

The IRGC Navy drill comes a couple of weeks after the Iranian Army carried out massive military drills involving forces from the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz to the northern tip of the Indian Ocean. Codenamed Zolfaghar 1401, the aim of the exercise was to increase the readiness of the Iranian troops.

The exercise witnessed Iran’s homemade missile defense system, Mersad, successfully targeting and destroying a simulation of an attacking enemy drone, as per IRNA.

According to the news agency, Mersad is a home-grown mobile tactical missile system with a detection range of 150 kilometers and high operational accuracy and longevity, which is capable of destroying targets within a distance of 40 kilometers.