Brigadier General Qader Rahimzadeh said at a press conference on Thursday that the operational phase of the fifth edition of the specialized drill, codenamed Defenders of Velayat Skies 1402, will kick off in a few hours.
Units from the Army’s Air Defense, Air Force, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, Navy, IRGC Navy and Army Ground Force will take part in the joint war game, he noted.
It will be held in an integrated and fully coordinated air defense command and control network under the command of the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, the general added.
He said the exercise will cover a vast area of the country’s southern regions from Abadan in the southwest to Chabahar in the southeast as well as national waters in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
During the war game, tens of manned aircraft and tens of UAVs will target specified sensitive centers from different altitudes and the Air Defense systems will counter the aircraft commensurate with the threats.
In remarks in 2018, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei described the air defense base as a very crucial part of the Armed Forces that is at the frontline of confronting enemies of Iran.
The Leader also stressed the importance of accelerating the capabilities of the base and the Air Forces' staff.