Iranian military exercises in January and February 2025

The Islamic Republic of Iran has recently conducted several high-profile military exercises, showcasing its capabilities and technological advancements.  Despite traditionally maintaining secrecy around its military activities, exercises like Great prophet 19 and Zolfaghar 1403 have received significant media attention. These exercises serve as a demonstration to the international community that Iran remains capable and willing to counter external threats, while also reaffirming its status as a key regional player despite recent challenges.

 The exercises featured a variety of munitions and platforms, including both current and newly developed systems. Although in Iran, there is a focus on domestically produced designs, it is important to note that some of these are reverse-engineered copies or Israeli, US, Soviet or Chinese designs.

Great Prophet 19

The Great Prophet 19 exercise was conducted over January and February 2025 and was structured in three distinct phases, each showcasing different aspects of Iran’s military capabilities. Army, navy and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) elements were involved. A significant quantity and variety of munitions and platforms were employed, these being a mix of known and new, or previously unseen, designs. Below is an overview of these phases along with a sample of the munitions employed during each.

FATEH

Free-fall (unpowered) guided glide bomb

Sadid 365

One-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicle

Qaem-5

Free-fall (unpowered) guided glide bomb

FATEH

One-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicle

Ra'ad 2

One-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicle

Ra'ad 3

One-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicle

Saeghe 1

One-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicle

Hadid-110

One-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicle

Zolfaghar 1403

A mix of ground, naval and air assets were deployed along the Makran coastline of southern Iran, adjacent to the Sea of Oman. The joint exercises were reportedly to prepare to ‘face off potential aerial, ground and naval threats’, according to Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.

Armoured vehicles, such as the T-72F Karrar and BMP-2 acted as an amphibious invasion force, along with Iranian marines and other troops, these were countered by coastal defence forces and other units. The entire exercise saw the deployment of: UAVs, such as the Ababil-3; fixed wing aircraft, including MiG-29s and Yak-130s armed with R-73 air-to-air missiles; portable and vehicle-mounted anti-tank guided missiles of the Delavieh, Almas and Toophan series; along with a variety of other platforms and munitions.

OSINT recorded by Fenix Insight on  22nd February 2025: "Iran Army launches large-scale Zolfaqar-1403 drills along southern shores"

Launch of the Shahid Bagheri

A new vessel, that had been taking shape for many months, was officially unveiled in Bandar Abbas on the 6th of February. The Shahed Bagheri is a multi-purpose aircraft carrier, capable of launching UAVs, helicopters and attack boats. It is being referred to as a ‘drone carrier’ due to this being the primary focus of the design.

A variety of crewed and uncrewed platforms were showcased along with the carrier, such as: an Ababil-3; a Mohajer-6 armed with Almas-3 missiles; a Bell-206 with a Nasr-1 anti-ship cruise missile; and a host of others, including a scaled down version of the Qaher-313, called the JAS-313.

It is worth noting the other offensive and defensive capabilities of the Shahid Bagheri. It is able to deploy small attack boats, capable of carrying Kowsar-200/222 missiles. Surface-to-air/ground Kowsar missiles are present on the ship, along with the larger Ghadr-380 anti-ship cruise missile, with guns and autocannons for local point defence.

OSINT recorded by Fenix Insight on 6th February 2025: "Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched the Shahid Bagheri, a multi-purpose drone carrier, enhancing its naval and aerial capabilities. Unveiled in Bandar Abbas, the vessel can operate drones, helicopters, and attack boats, boosting Iran’s ability to project power and defend its interests."

Additional recently unveiled munitions

A multitude of other Iranian munitions have been unveiled recently, with some others of interest being shown below, and more being added to METIS over time.

Etemad

Medium-Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM)

Project 359

Surface-to-air missile (SAM)

Almas 4

Multirole guided missile

Conclusion

In this situational report we have highlighted the key military exercises, it is important to note that other smaller activities occurred, involving border forces, air defence units and exhibitions of military equipment. While all these exercises are a routine occurrence, as with many other countries, the unprecedented media profile is unusual. The scale of these exercises, coupled with displays of new and upgraded munitions and platforms provides an insight into the intense efforts of the Iranian defence industry to develop and deploy new designs and capabilities.  

This has both regional and international consequences, Iranian munitions can be found in various conflicts around the globe, it is highly likely that we may see some of these newly developed munitions appear outside of Iran, such as in Ukraine, the Middle East and various African nations.