Iran’s Army has started a large-scale drone drill, featuring its reconnaissance and combat drones in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, as well as over its territory. 

Vice Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, the deputy of Army Operations and Spokesman for the Army's 1401 joint drone exercise said on Wednesday that surveillance drones operated by the four units of the Army, namely the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense Force, successfully carried out their intelligence-gathering and patrol missions on the first day of the two-day drill.

In addition to Mohajer-6 ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) aircraft, various Iranian-made drones such as Yasir, Sadeq, Yazdan and Ababil-3 tactical surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles as well as Pelican vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) naval drone were flown from different bases across the country, he said, adding that the aircraft successfully identified designated targets in the general zone of the exercise as well as international waters.

The Army has as set up a command-and-control network for the drone operations to expand unmanned aerial capabilities, execute drone missions and coordinate such flights, Mousavi said, boasting that “This exercise exhibits only a small fraction of the achievements made by the Islamic Republic of Iran Army regarding domestically-developed drones.”

Deputy Chief of the Iranian Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on Tuesday that more than 150 new advanced drones will be flown in the drill. 

Earlier in the month, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed that it held joint drone exercises with Russia at the Kashan Air Base, adding that Belarus and Armenia are also partaking in the drills.