Tehran, Iran – The Iranian Army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been introducing and testing new defensive and offensive weapons in large military exercises for the past three months.
The country is preparing for another turbulent year amid the threat of the US and Israel bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, critical energy infrastructure and military sites.
Iran has also pledged a third iteration of a major military strike against Israel in retaliation for Israel’s attacks amid a catastrophic war with Gaza.
Exercises – Extedar, Zorfakar, the Great Prophet – are held throughout Iran, the Sea of Oman and the North Indian Ocean.
The weapons tested show that Iran intends to maintain Israeli and Western rebellion, refusing to negotiate with US President Donald Trump under his “maximum pressure” policy, and continues to move forward with its nuclear program.
Secret Missile City
The IRGC has announced three major underground military bases, saying that the commander is preparing for a long-term war.
Dozens of ballistic projectiles were seen in what state television calls the “missile giants,” some of which were quickly deployed on mobile launchers.
These include:
Khorramshahr-4, a 2,000km (1,242 miles) liquid-fueled rocket in the range and an upgraded warhead reportedly weighing up to 2 tons (4,400 pounds). The Jahad is a liquid-fueled rocket that can reach up to 1,000 km (621 miles) with a warhead of 650 kg (1,400 pounds). L360, a solid fuel rocket that can reach 180km (111 miles) while carrying 150kg (330 pounds) of explosives. QADR, a two-stage rocket that can travel up to 2,000km and carry a warhead weighing 750kg (1,650 pounds). The Emad is a liquid-fuel missile in the range of approximately 1,800km (1,118 miles) and has a warhead of up to 750kg.
The IRGC Navy also showed some of the secret underground naval bases along Iran’s southern coast.
Among them were speedboats and antiship mines carrying hundreds of missiles, and a new cruise missile, a projectile of Antiships called the QADR-380. The QADR-380 can travel more than 1,000km. In other words, Iran can attack ships from deep within its territory.
IRGC also says there will be a new Antiship Supersonic Cruise Missile in a 2,000km range that will be announced soon.
Fighter plane
Iran also used several domestic models such as fighter jets, Saeqeh and Azarakhsh, as well as many US and Russian models dating back to the 1979 Iranian revolution.
They also used a new Russian-made Yak-130 along with the MIG-29 fighter jet to intercept enemy drones as part of the exercise.
The subsonic two-seat jet YAK-130 was delivered by Moscow in September 2023 and trained pilots of advanced SU-35 fighter jets that Iran had been ordering for a long time but had not received.
air defense
Infrastructure defense, important for Iranian authorities, is a priority, especially after Israel attacked multiple Iranian provinces in late October.
After that attack, Israeli military sources claimed that Iran had lost all four of its Russian-made S-300 missile defense batteries, according to local and western media. They argued that Iran remains largely vulnerable.
Tehran claimed that the effects were limited and replaced the damaged gear.
According to Iranian media, the S-300 appeared in live drills in January.
The Bavar-373 is Iran’s highest highland missile defense system, reportedly capable of firing down incoming missiles over 300km (186 miles). It is equipped with a tactical Sayyad 4B surface-to-air missile.
15- Various other missile defense systems that Iran had at Arsenal over the years, including Khordad, Majid, Arman, Zoubin and Tondar, were also tested.
A lot of surface-to-air missile branded the 358 was also announced during the January exercise. With a reported 400km (248 miles) range, the new missiles will be used in domestic defense systems to enhance their ability to shoot down Iranian drones and low-altitude aerial threats.
The Iranian forces were also trained to defend against attacks on nuclear sites in Natanz, Fordaw and Kondaub, as well as against enhanced defenses around airports, refineries and seaports.
They drilled for scenarios that included fighter jets permeating Iranian airspace and air strikes using heavy “bunkerbuster” bombs that the US and Israel use extensively to penetrate deep underground.
The Army Air Force has held helicopter exercises, and senior commanders report building an additional 1,000 people, many of whom have been overhauled with older models as they cannot be purchased from many international parts suppliers due to US and European sanctions.
Sea, ground defense
The drill included attack and defense scenarios on a variety of terrain.
Heavy armored vehicles, including Iranian-made colour main battle tanks and Russian-made BMP2 carriers, passed the pace in desert and coastal scenarios.
Soldiers and Special Forces Command excavated amphibious operations, including testing coastal defense capabilities against daytime and night attacks.
The fleet’s Jamaran and Zagros were shown during their activities as well as numerous speedboats.
The IRGC claimed that the newly announced Heydar 110, which can carry two cruise missiles, is the fastest catamaran speedboat in the world at a speed of 110 knots (more than 200 km/h).
We have also launched the Hadid-10, a suicide drone with a jet engine that can be fired from an underwater drone.
📹حBeasts Charity
شx ⇒→اداززیزیNabi
Wishes, or a complimentary speech
– February 12, 2025
Translation: Hadid-10, Iran’s latest suicide drone, was first shown to have been fired from a minor underwater vehicle.
Iran has deployed several classes of submarines, including Tareq, Fateh and Ghadir, and has released domestic Valfajr Torpedos from the submarines.
The anti-submarine missile was fired from a US-made hippocampal helicopter in the Sea of Oman, and officials said it would soon show a hovercraft corvette carrying the missile.
Drones, old and new
At the beginning of February, IRGC deployed the country’s first drone carrier, Iris Shahid Bagheri.
The modified merchant ship is equipped with a 180-meter (590-foot) runway, eight two-storey hangars, and a fuel station for hospitals, football pitches, drones, helicopters and ships.
You can launch variations of Ababil, Mohajer, and Homa reconnaissance and attack drones.
A stunning image of a jet-powered drone taking off and landing from a deck of Iran’s new homemade drone carrier shahid bagheri pic.twitter.com/1zx3u2sgik
– Press TV🔻 (@presstv) February 6, 2025
A scaled version of the new jet engine Qaher-313 drone was also seen on the deck, with Bell-206 and MIL-17 helicopters arriving.
The drone carrier’s defenses looked light, with a limited number of missiles and guns on board, and it was not clear whether or how to join the strike group.
Iranian forces separately stated the delivery of 1,000 new drones, including variations of Shade One Way unmanned aerial vehicles that the West gave to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Drone swarm manipulation – During that time, numerous drones were launched simultaneously for defense and excavated using several types of projectiles.
These included first-person view (FPV) drones that have been heavily deployed by both Russia and Ukraine during the three-year war.
