TEHRAN – Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Aerospace Division will stage military drills in the near future, field-testing homegrown equipment, its commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh said in comments on Monday. 

“The Aerospace Division of Sepah (IRGC) will hold military drills in the near future,” the commander was quoted as saying in a speech in Sabzevar, northeastern Iran. 

Nearly all defensive systems, including radar, missile, and command ones, to be used in the war practices have been manufactured by Iranian hands, the commander said. 

The aerospace division of the elite revolutionary forces has unveiled breakthroughs over the past few years with a particular focus on developing unmanned aerial vehicles and surface-to-air missile systems. 

As a manifestation of the advances, the aerospace forces managed to down an advanced U.S. drone aircraft that was flying 140 miles (225km) from the Afghan border.

A footage showed the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft had been forced to land undamaged. 

Previously, Hajizadeh said he would consider Iran one of the world’s top four drone producers in the world.  

Driven by self-reliance in military production, the country seeks to make an entire range of hardware domestically. 

Iran has also conducted military drills to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and state-of-the-art army equipment.

Tehran says its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.

AK/PA