Iran: IRGC launch ballistic missiles from underground platforms
Iran shows off new ballistic missiles, attacks mock-up US aircraft carrier in massive military drill
Iran claimed Wednesday that it became the first nation in the world to launch ballistic missiles from underground, without using conventional equipment.
Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Aerospace Force with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Aerospace Force, revealed the launch, as cited by Fars News.
Hajizadeh said that the missiles had been launched from platforms located deep beneath the ground, making them more difficult to pinpoint for hostile intelligence agencies -- and to destroy.
The launch came as part of the annual "Great Prophet-14" drill, a massive wargame in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that works as a major artery for global energy trade.
The drill also included an attack on a mock US aircraft carrier, first targeted by drones and then swarmed by fast-moving attack boats.
The missile launch reportedly forced two US bases in the region to go on high alert. The US military criticized the launches and the drill as "irresponsible" and "reckless."
Earlier, Iran claimed that it had constructed underground missile "cities" along its Gulf coastline as it flexed its military muscle amid tensions with the US.
Early in 2020, these tensions got kinetic as the US killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, leader of the elite Quds force, in a drone strike following months of attacks on US targets in Iraq, and Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile attack on Ain al-Asad base hosting US troops.