Joint Exercise Zolfaghar 99 ( fa, رزمایش مشترک ذوالفقار ۹۹) was a large-scale

military exercise A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...

conducted jointly by all four branches of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army between 10 and 12 September 2020. The drills were held at the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean 10 degrees north of the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

, including about 2 million-square-kilometer of area. Held in three phases, it involved intelligence, tactics and show of force.

Major events

Drones

Ababil Ababil or Ababeel may refer to: *Ababeel (NGO), a charitable organization based in Jammu and Kashmir *Ababeel (missile), a Pakistani MIRV-capable Medium-range ballistic missile *Ababil-100, an Iraqi single-stage Short-range ballistic missile *HESA A ...

and Karrar unmanned aerial vehicles were used to monitor the drill. The January 2019 unveiled UAV Kaman-12 also flew over the area to conduct the same mission.

Simorgh Simurgh (; fa, سیمرغ, also spelled ''simorgh, simorg'', ''simurg'', ''simoorg, simorq'' or ''simourv'') is a benevolent, mythical bird in Persian mythology and literature. It is sometimes equated with other mythological birds such as the ...

, a UCAV unveiled in December 2019, accomplished both reconnaissance and combat missions. The drone hit naval targets with bombs, flying more than 1,000 kilometers.

Naval drills

, the lead ship of Iran's endogenously-built , made her first presence during the drill and a brief footage of her sailing on the surface was aired. s were also seen taking part by firing

Jask-2 The Jask-2 missile is an Iranian submarine-launched cruise missile developed from the Iranian Nasr-1 Anti-ship missile. It is designed to be fired from the Ghadir-class midget submarines and it can also be launched by the Fateh-class submarin ...

submarine-launched cruise missile. Qader anti-ship cruise missiles were launched at sea targets off the coast. Iran said it successfully destructed target at a distance of over 200 kilometers. It also included an amphibious assault by commandos and marines.

Alleged warning to American aircraft

Iran said three American aircraft including a

Boeing P-8 Poseidon The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and derived from the civilian Boeing 737-800. It was developed for the United States Navy (USN). Th ...

, a

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...

and a Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk were warned after they had entered the air defense identification zone (ADIZ). According to Iranian officials, after "ignoring warnings by Iran's defense systems to keep away from the drill zone", American aircraft were intercepted by Iranian drones and subsequently left the area.

Reactions

United States Central Command did not comment on the war game, nor Iranian allegations about warnings to its aircraft.

References