Air Defense Drill Commences

The air defense forces started a large-scale exercise in the country’s southern regions on Monday.

The wargame, codenamed Defenders of Velayat Skies 7, covers an area of 496,000 square kilometers in Iran’s southern areas, mainly the provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr and Khuzestan.

More than 17,000 armed forces are taking part in the drills, which will last for five days, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The inclusive wargame is attended by forces from the Army’s Air Defense Base, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force, the Navy, the police and Basij volunteer forces, artillery units of the Army and the IRGC and fighter jets from the Air Force.

“The wargame is being held in the country’s most sensitive and crowded airspace,” spokesman of the exercise, Lieutenant General Abbas Farajpour, said.

The main purpose of the exercise is to improve coordination between various air defense units of the armed forces, serving either in the Army or the IRGC.

The drill also set a record in the tactical mobility of armed forces, after the rapid deployment of radar and missile systems and artillery units, as well as communication and electronic warfare systems to the operation zone.

Iran’s air defense forces hold routine military exercises throughout the year. The country’s integrated air defense network protects 3,700 sensitive sites across the country, including nuclear facilities.