Iran hosts Russia, Belarus in Falcon Hunting drone competition

The country that calls the United States “the Great Satan” is hosting a military war games competition involving drones. One of the top competitors in the games is Russia. This week, Iranian state television broadcast the opening ceremonies for the Falcon Hunting drone competition.

Russia launched the contest in 2015, as part of a large-scale military games competition meant to counter western influence. This year, the Aerospace Division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is hosting the drone competition. It will be held in Kashan, close to the IRGC’s drone program headquarters.

A spokesperson for the games said more than 70 participants from Iran, Russia, Belarus, and Armenia are competing in the games. The teams will be judged on both performance and consistency while operating in both day and night conditions.

The games are expected to last until Aug. 28, and while they were pre-planned, the timing is interesting.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is ongoing, but it isn’t going as planned. Part of the issue is Ukraine has a cache of foreign-made drones that it’s using with a high degree of efficiency.

The Biden Administration said Russia wants to buy hundreds of drones from Iran. Iran said it doesn’t want to further the war in Ukraine, but hasn’t condemned Russia and is only getting cozier with the Kremlin as the war drags on.