Iranian Army IRGC to Stage Joint Wargames

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) plan to stage joint military drills to boost their defense and combat capabilities in the current Iranian year (started on March 20), a senior Army commander announced on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced that his forces plan to hold 8 wargames in different fields, among them specialized airborne exercises and joint drills with the IRGC.  "The exercise will be held in the Southeastern or Southwestern borders of the country," Pourdastan said, adding that the wargames will be at division level and the first joint exercise between the two military forces after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.  Iran's Army and IRGC hold regular wargames to practice combat tactics and also test new home-made military tools, equipment and weapons in action.  In the most recent case, Iranian Army and the IRGC reviewed their latest air defense tactics during the current phase of the drills underway in the Southern province of Bushehr,  Iran's Air Defense Unit staged massive air defense drills, codenamed 'Sarallah', in the country's Southern regions in February to test and assess the latest versions and productions of home-made radar and missile defense systems.  Timely detection of hypothetical enemy targets, manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and identification of them by integrated air defense systems as well as tactical independence were among the objectives accomplished in the drills.  Different types of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) fighter jets, IRGC's aircraft, different mid and long-range and low altitude air defense systems were used in the drills. (FNA)