Iran’s army Ground Forces begins massive drills

The Iranian Army’s Ground Forces have begun massive military maneuver in the central province of Isfahan.

The two-day large-scale drills, code-named ‘Eghtedar 97’ was inaugurated by the Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari on Friday morning.

The maneuver is aimed at assessing new structural changes to the Army’s Ground Forces with over 12,000 forces participating to exercise state-of-the-art offensive tactics.

Armored vehicles, artillery units, rapid reaction forces, mechanized infantry, electronic warfare, telecommunications and UAVs were deployed to the vast maneuver area.

Demonstrating quick mobilization of forces as well as providing airborne support to helicopters throughout the maneuver are among the major goals of ‘Eghtedar 97’ drills.

Two RF-4 aircrafts successfully completed their reconnaissance missions over the maneuver area (Nasrabad village).

As another part of the drills, the UAV units of the Army Ground Forces flew two Mohajer (Migrant) drones over the area to carry out their reconnaissance missions and to send images of bottlenecks and impassable regions back to the bases and the control centers.

Stealth Mohajer drones which are manufactured by Self-sufficiency Jihad Organization of the Iranian Army Ground Forces are made of composite and are capable of carrying out missions in all weathers.

In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and hardware.

The country has conducted major military drills over recent years to enhance the defense capabilities of its Armed Forces and to test modern military tactics and state-of-the-art army equipment.

The Islamic Republic maintains that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.