The Iranian Army brought into operation a new homegrown drone, dubbed Kaman-19 (photo), in a military exercise which lasted for several days across the country.

The main stage of the drone drill, participated by troops from the four units of the Army, kicked off on Tuesday morning with around 200 various unmanned aircraft in attendance.

The spokesperson for the exercise said the electronic warfare units have practiced a range of tactics in the drill.

According to General Alireza Sheikh, the Kaman-19 drone has joined the Army’s fleet and carried out combat sorties for the first time in the war game, Fars News Agency (FNA) reported.

“The new sophisticated UAV has conducted electronic warfare and aerial radar jamming operations,” he said.

The war game has the message of “peace and friendship” for regional countries. The Islamic Republic’s military doctrine holds that the country’s armed capability solely serves defensive purposes.

He further noted that indigenous kamikaze and combat drones have successfully hit all predicted targets during the drills. Among other tasks were “implementing a pre-planned flight scenario, striking specified targets…, using bombs and missiles installed on drones, signal gathering and using optical payloads”.

The military exercises saw the mass flight of UAVs from various ground, underground and sea bases to carry out operations which were unprecedented in scope.

“The ability of mass flights using Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the innovative measures in the Islamic Republic of Iran Army’s operation of drones,” the spokesperson continued.

Furthermore, the “Arash” suicide drones have successfully annihilated various targets on the ground and in the sea.

“A broad range of suicide and combat drones have been armed with bombs and missiles to carry out missions over the war game zones,” General Alireza Sheikh added.

The military official also noted that the ‘Omid’ (Hope) anti-radar drone has managed to detonate ground radars with the use of artificial intelligence.

Also on Wednesday, an Iranian drone managed to target another unmanned aircraft with a missile during the large-scale maneuver.

Commander of the Iranian Army’s Air Defense Force Brigadier General Alireza Sabahi Fard said, in an aerial battle, a drone targeted another with a missile and destroyed it.

“Only one or two countries have the ability to carry out this very complex and advanced operation, which of course they have not displayed yet,” he acknowledged.

In another development, Commander of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said that the Sabalan military vessel has become the first destroyer equipped with a dozen anti-ship cruise missiles.

Rear Admiral Irani made the remarks in an interview with Tasnim news agency, stating that the Iranian Navy has furnished the Sabalan destroyer with 12 anti-ship cruise missiles, breaking the record for the number of guided missiles installed on Iranian vessels.

He noted the missile-equipped destroyer will be unveiled soon.

Sabalan is an Alvand-class frigate of Iran’s Navy. Previously, Sablan was furnished with 4 anti-ship cruise missiles and took part in 13 Iranian naval fleets.

Iran’s Sahand and Sina frigates have each been equipped with eight cruise missiles.