Tehran, Iran – Iran’s military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been showcasing and testing new defensive and offensive weapons in large-scale army workout routines for the previous three months.
The nation is making ready for one more tumultuous yr amid threats by the USA and Israel to bomb Iranian nuclear services, important vitality infrastructure, and army websites.
Iran can also be promising a 3rd iteration of its main army strikes on Israel, in retaliation for Israeli assaults amid the devastating warfare on Gaza.
The workout routines – Eqtedar, Zolfaqar and Nice Prophet – have been held throughout Iran, the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean.
The weapons examined present Iran intends to keep up its defiance of Israel and the West, refusing to barter with US President Donald Trump underneath his “most strain” coverage and persevering with to advance its nuclear programme.
Secret missile cities
The IRGC unveiled three main underground army bases, with commanders saying they’re ready for a chronic warfare.
Inside what state tv referred to as a “missile megacity”, dozens of ballistic projectiles might be seen, some on cell launchers for fast deployment.
These included:
- Khorramshahr-4, a liquid-fuel rocket with a variety of two,000km (1,242 miles) and an upgraded warhead reportedly weighing as much as two tonnes (4,400 kilos).
- Jahad, a liquid-fuel rocket that may go as much as 1,000km (621 miles) with a 650kg (1,400-pound) warhead.
- L360, a solid-fuel rocket that may go 180km (111 miles) whereas carrying 150kg (330 kilos) of explosives.
- Qadr, a two-stage rocket that may journey as much as 2,000km and carry a warhead weighing as much as 750kg (1,650 kilos).
- Emad, a liquid-fuel missile with a variety of about 1,800km (1,118 miles) and warheads as much as 750kg.
The IRGC Navy additionally confirmed a few of a secret underground naval base alongside Iran’s southern coast.
Inside it, tons of of missile-carrying speedboats and antiship mines had been proven, in addition to a brand new cruise missile, an antiship projectile referred to as the Qadr-380. The Qadr-380 can journey greater than 1,000km, that means Iran would be capable of assault ships from deep inside its territory.
The IRGC additionally says it has a brand new antiship supersonic cruise missile with a variety of two,000km that it’ll unveil quickly.
Warplanes
Iran used its fighter jets as properly, some home fashions such because the Saeqeh and Azarakhsh, in addition to many older US and Russian fashions relationship again to earlier than Iran’s 1979 revolution.
It additionally used the newer, Russian-made Yak-130 alongside MiG-29 fighter jets to intercept an enemy drone as a part of an train.
The subsonic two-seat jet Yak-130 was delivered by Moscow in September 2023 to coach pilots for the superior Su-35 fighter jets that Iran has lengthy ordered however not obtained.
Air defences
Defending important infrastructure is a precedence for Iranian authorities, particularly after Israel attacked a number of Iranian provinces in late October.
After that assault, Israeli army sources claimed Iran had misplaced all 4 of its Russian-made S-300 missile defence batteries and extra throughout these assaults, in keeping with native and Western media. They claimed Iran was left largely defenceless.
Tehran claimed the affect was restricted and it had changed broken gear.
The S-300 made an look in dwell drills in January, in tandem with an upgraded model of the home Bavar-373, which has been in improvement for years, Iranian media reported.
The Bavar-373 is Iran’s prime high-altitude missile defence system, reportedly able to capturing down incoming missiles at a variety of greater than 300km (186 miles). It’s geared up with tactical Sayyad 4B surface-to-air missiles.
A wide range of different missile defence techniques that Iran has had in its arsenal for years had been additionally examined, together with the 15-Khordad, Majid, Arman, Zoubin, and Tondar.
A loitering surface-to-air missile branded the 358 was additionally unveiled throughout workout routines in January. With a reported vary of 400km (248 miles), the brand new missile shall be used with home defence techniques to bolster Iran’s potential to shoot down drones and low-altitude aerial threats.
Iranian armed forces additionally skilled for defending in opposition to assaults on the Natanz, Fordow and Khondab nuclear websites, and fortified defences round airports, refineries and sea ports.
They drilled for situations together with warplanes penetrating Iranian airspace, and air strikes utilizing heavy “bunker-buster” bombs, which the US and Israel use extensively to penetrate deep underground.
Military Air Drive held helicopter workout routines, with a senior commander reporting they’re constructing 1,000 extra, a lot of them overhauls of older fashions since Iran is unable to purchase from many worldwide elements suppliers attributable to US and European sanctions.
Sea, floor defence
The drills included assault and defence situations on completely different terrain.
Heavy armoured automobiles, together with the Iranian-made Karrar predominant battle tank and the Russian-made BMP2 provider, had been put by means of their paces in desert and coastal situations.
Troopers and particular forces commandos drilled amphibious operations, together with testing coastal defence capabilities in opposition to incoming daytime and nighttime assaults.
The warships Jamaran and Zagros had been proven in motion, as had been numerous speedboats.
The IRGC claimed its newly unveiled Heydar 110, which may carry two cruise missiles, is the quickest catamaran speedboat on the earth with a velocity of 110 knots (greater than 200km per hour).
It additionally launched Hadid-110, a suicide drone with a jet engine that may be fired from an underwater drone earlier than slamming into its pre-designated goal.
📹 حدید ۱۱۰؛ جدیدترین پهپاد انتحاری
شلیک پهپاد از زیردریایی
برای اولین بار تصاویری از شلیک پهپاد انتحاری از زیردریایی بدون سرنشین منتشر شدhttps://t.co/4uHcChDWEq pic.twitter.com/kCy7XS8hzv
— خبرگزاری تسنیم 🇮🇷 (@Tasnimnews_Fa) February 12, 2025
Translation: Hadid-110, Iran’s newest suicide drone, is for the primary time proven being fired from an unmanned underwater car.
Iran deployed a number of lessons of submarines, together with Tareq, Fateh and Ghadir, and stated it launched home Valfajr torpedos from the submarines.
Anti-submarine missiles had been fired from US-made Sea Hawk helicopters within the Sea of Oman, and officers stated they might quickly present a missile-carrying hovercraft corvette.
Drones, previous and new
In the beginning of February, the IRGC deployed IRIS Shahid Bagheri, the nation’s first drone provider.
The transformed service provider ship is outfitted with a 180-metre (590-foot) runway, eight hangars on two storeys, a hospital, a soccer pitch, and gasoline stations for drones, helicopters and vessels.
It could launch variants of the Ababil, Mohajer and Homa reconnaissance and assault drones.
Gorgeous photos of jet-powered drones taking off and touchdown from the deck of Iran’s new homegrown drone provider Shahid Bagheri pic.twitter.com/1zx3U2sgiK
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) February 6, 2025
A scaled-down model of the brand new jet-engine Qaher-313 drone was additionally seen on the deck, and Bell-206 and Mil-17 helicopters landed on it.
The drone provider’s defences appeared mild, with a restricted variety of missiles and weapons on board, and there was no readability over whether or not or how it will take part in a strike group.
The Iranian military stated individually it has taken supply of 1,000 new drones, together with variants of the Shahed one-way unmanned aerial automobiles that the West maintains Iran gave Russia for the warfare in Ukraine.
Drone swarm operations – throughout which numerous drones are launched concurrently to overwhelm defences – had been additionally drilled utilizing a number of forms of projectiles.
These included first-person view (FPV) drones, which have been closely deployed by each Russia and Ukraine throughout their three-year warfare.
