Iran shows video of troops attacking fake US carrier in drill

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard fired a missile from a helicopter targeting a replica US aircraft carrier in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state television reports.

Footage shows Iranian commandos fast-rope down from a helicopter onto the replica. Other footage shows fast boats encircling the mock-up, kicking up white waves in their wake.

Iranian troops also fired anti-aircraft batteries at a drone target in the exercise from a location that state television described as being near the port city of Bandar Abbas. Troops also fired missiles launched from trucks on land and fast boats at sea, as well as shoulder-fired missiles.

IRGC stages massive war game south of #Iran pic.twitter.com/WUZgmGEzZ9

— Press TV ???? (@PressTV) July 28, 2020

The Guard will use “long-range ballistic missiles with the ability to hit far-reaching aggressor floating targets” during the drill, says Abbas Nilforoushan, the Guard’s deputy commander for operations, according to Guard website sepahnews.com. That suggests the drill could see a repeat of what happened in 2015, when the Guard mock-sunk a replica.

It wasn’t immediately clear if all the footage was from Tuesday, as one overhead surveillance image that appeared to be shot by a drone bore Monday’s date.

#IRGC Practices Countermeasures against #US Aircraft Carrier Threats https://t.co/lbjljiULuN pic.twitter.com/q33ALAW743

— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) July 28, 2020

— AP