Press TV - Iran has unveiled anUnmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) base for its fleet of drones which have given the country a remarkable capability in the fight against terrorists and protecting its borders.
Head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base Farzad Esmaili (seen below) inaugurated the airstrip on Sunday, as the headquarters released a video of UAVsparked on the tarmac at the undisclosed site.
In an address tothe inauguration ceremony, Esmaili described Iran's dronecapabilities "an award for theheroic nation," as hesenta stern warning to the country'senemies.
Maybe, the enemy thinks itcan attack us. But the main question is how it is supposed to escape unscathed, he said.
Iran is regarded as a bona fide drone power among a few countries with operationally deployed armed drones and itsextensive unmanned aerial vehicle programdatesback to the Iraqi war of the 1980s against the Islamic Republic.
Esmaili said,"Air defense centers throughout the entire territoryof the Islamic Iran work in tandem with the indigenous integrated air defense command and control system.
Iran's UAV program has expanded in recent years withmore than a dozen modelsoperating for a variety of functions ranging from surveillance, to intelligence gathering, carrying bombs and Kamikaze operations.
They havebeen playing a significant role in the fight against Takfiri terrorists as well as monitoring US warships in the Persian Gulf.
Esmaili touched on Iran's downing orcapture of intruding drones, including an Israeli Hermes which was shot down inOctober 2014.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said at the time that its forces intercepted and hit the spy aircraft on its wayto the Natanz nuclear facility in the central Isfahan province.
In December 2011, Irangrounded a US RQ-170 Sentinel, using electronic warfare techniques, as the stealth aircraft was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmarnear the Afghan border.
