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18:57 GMT 25.01.2025 (Updated: 19:01 GMT 25.01.2025)
Also this week, Iran’s Ministry of Science and Technology announced a $115 million push to bolster AI R&D development, with the first domestic AI park expected to be up and running by 2027.
The IRGC Navy successfully test fired the Qaem and Almas AI-equipped munitions at mock enemy targets on the final day of the Great Prophet Authority 19 drills.
The weapons, fired from Ababil 5 and Mohajer 6 airplane-style strike drones, were among an array of new and upgraded equipment displayed during the exercises.
Qaem is an air-to-ground glide bomb featuring infrared, laser or TV guidance, an 8.5 kg warhead and range up to 40 km.
Almas is an anti-armor missile with an 8 km range, top attack capability and tandem HEAT/thermobaric warhead.
The Great Prophet Authority 19 drills began in early January amid Iranian fears of preemptive US aggression against the Islamic Republic in support of Israel, with tensions remaining steady in the first days of the new administration given its staffing by Iran hawks.
Iran first revealed its possession of AI-enabled missiles with ability to independently change direction and angle in 2023.
So-called narrow AI tailored to meet a limited array of tasks has been around in advanced military and aerospace systems since the 1980s, with the Granit anti-ship missile and Buran space shuttle serving as prime examples.
The Islamic Republic has one of the most sophisticated homegrown military industrial complexes in the world, developing everything from advanced air defense systems and long-range missiles to a dizzying array of drones and other weaponry after losing access to its main source of arms, the United States, after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
