The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s chief says the Ground Force under his watch put on display a combination of the “major elements of its power” during the latest maneuvers, which featured kamikaze and reconnaissance drones as new components of the Force’s offensive might.
Major General Hossein Salami made the remarks on Thursday on the sidelines of the IRGC’s Great Prophet 17 joint military exercises in Iran’s southern coast.
He praised the IRGC’s Ground Force as a guarantor of the country’s independence, territorial integrity and national security, saying it has developed new tactics to further its offensive power using all the capabilities it has acquired in fixed and mobile defense on the ground.
“What was demonstrated today in the drills was a combination of key elements of the IRGC Ground Force’s offensive power, including strong defense in fixed positions and anti-heliborne operation, as well as the use of offensive drones, bounding mines and armored firepower,” he added.
“The new points about this exercise comprise the effective use of offensive kamikaze and reconnaissance drones that are new components of our Ground Force’s offensive power, the effective use of offensive power by helicopters, the firing of missiles and rockets at long distances from choppers, the effective use of bounding mines against the enemy’s mobile targets, and the accurate firepower of artillery units.”
Salami also said that modern and systematic command, control and management was the key feature of the war-games that created balanced coordination on the ground.
The five-day drills kicked off on Monday, covering the coastlines of the southern Iranian provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr, and Khuzestan.
The ground phase of the exercises ended early on Thursday with a large-scale night combat operation using combined tactics of ranger, armored, artillery, drone and combat helicopter units.
IRGC ‘indigenized’ drone production technology
On Wednesday, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the IRGC Ground Force commander, said the elite force has changed its tactical doctrine “in proportion to operational scenes and threats, capacity and flexibility.”
“We have acquired and indigenized the technology of production and reproduction of drones, and our offensive and combat UAVs can target any point that is needed,” he added.