Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force kicked off massive military drills dubbed 'Modafe'an Harim-e Aseman Velayat' (Defenders of the Velayat Skies) in Semnan province in Northern Iran on Saturday.
The new stage of the IRGC's Aerospace drills kicked off after a five-day
preliminary phase.
The massive drills are being held in an area of 35,000 square kilometers, and
are aimed at demonstrating Iran’s power, intelligence command, and defense
readiness to counter any threats.
Different types of missile and radar systems, which are designed and
manufactured by Iranian experts and engineers with diverse ranges, were used
during the exercises.
The missile systems used in the drills included Khordad-III missile system with
a range of 75 kilometers and capability of targeting several targets at the same
time, Tabas missile system with a range of 60 kilometers also capable of hitting
multiple enemy targets and Sayyad-II missile system with range of 75 kilometers
and capable of confronting the enemy's electronic warfare.
The radar systems also used in the massive drills included long-range Qadir
radar system with a tracking range of up to 1,100 kilometers, Matla al-Fajr
radar system with a range of 500 kilometers and capable of tracking different
kinds of aircraft and drones and Kavosh radar system with a range of 150
kilometers and capable of tracking air threats at low altitudes, including
cruise missiles and different aircraft.
In relevant remarks in late January, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced that his
forces will take part in a massive military drill in the near future.
"The main aim of the upcoming war game is to display IRGC's capabilities in
producing the him-made military equipment," General Hajizadeh said, addressing a
ceremony in the Northeastern city of Sabzevar.
The senior IRGC commander reiterated that all the equipment to be used in the
war game, including all defensive systems, radars, command centers, and
ground-to-air missile equipment, are designed and manufactured by Iranian
scientists.
In relevant remarks in mid-December, General Hajizadeh underscored Iran's
self-sufficiency in different defensive fields, and said the country will
powerfully continue its progress in manufacturing different missiles.
No matter what the enemies do and even if they try to impose restrictions on
Iran, "we will not stop enhancement of our capability, knowledge and production
in defense fields, specially the missile industry", Hajizadeh said, addressing
Iranian university officials and professors in Tehran.
Stressing the important role played by universities and academic centers in
increasing Iran's capabilities, he said, "Thanks God, today, we have gained
self-sufficiency in different defense fields."
Hajizadeh had also announced earlier this month that the country has increased
the number of its ballistic missiles, while increasing their precision-striking
capability.
"In addition to enhancing the precision-striking power and quality of ballistic
missiles, the Iranian authorities and experts have used innovative and shortcut
methods to produce inexpensive missiles and today, we are witnessing an increase
in production (of ballistic missiles)," General Hajizadeh said in Tehran.
Noting that Iran has settled its problems and become self-sufficient in the
field of defense and military activities, specially in strategic fields, he said
that the country's experts have been able to boost missiles' precision-striking
power to the utmost.
His remarks came after Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan
underlined that his country sees no limit for the range of the ballistic
missiles that it is developing.
"We don’t have any limit for the range of liquid or solid-fueled ballistic
missiles," Dehqan said in a meeting in the Central city of Isfahan in August.
He underlined the indigenous nature of most Iranian weapons and military
equipment, and said, "90 percent of the country's defense systems have reached
an acceptable standard and enjoy competitive quality compared with the weapons
of advanced countries; production of the national individual weapons and efforts
to improve the quality and precision-striking power of ballistic missiles are
among the defense ministry's achievements in the defense field."
General Dehqan added that Iranian experts have also taken long strides in
building satellites, satellite carriers, missile launchpads and research work in
defense areas.
His remarks came as the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) fired 2 home-made
'Qadr H' ballistic missiles from the Eastern Alborz Mountains at a target in
Iran's Southeastern Makran seashore some 1400km away in March.
The missiles were fired on the sidelines of the main stage of the IRGC drills in
Central Iran and various parts of the country.
One missile had a message written on it that said in Hebrew: "Israel should be
wiped off the Earth".
Qadr is a 2000km-range, liquid-fuel and ballistic missile which can reach
territories as far as Israel.
The missile can carry different types of ‘Blast’ and ‘MRV’ (Multiple Reentry
Vehicle) payloads to destroy a range of targets. The new version of Qadr H can
be launched from mobile platforms or silos in different positions and can escape
missile defense shields due to their radar-evading capability.
A Multiple Reentry Vehicle payload for a ballistic missile deploys multiple
warheads in a pattern against a single target. (As opposed to Multiple
independently targetable reentry vehicle, which deploys multiple warheads
against multiple targets.) The advantage of an MRV over a single warhead is that
the damage produced in the center of the pattern is far greater than the damage
possible from any single warhead in the MRV cluster, this makes for an efficient
area attack weapon. Also, the sheer number of Warheads make interception by
Anti-ballistic missiles unlikely.
Improved warhead designs allow smaller warheads for a given yield, while better
electronics and guidance systems allowed greater accuracy. As a result MIRV
technology has proven more attractive than MRV for advanced nations. Because of
the larger amount of nuclear material consumed by MRVs and MIRVs, single warhead
missiles are more attractive for nations with less advanced technology. The
United States deployed an MRV payload on the Polaris A-3. The Soviet Union
deployed MRVs on the SS-9 Mod 4 ICBM.
source: fars news agency