PANews reported on April 4th that, according to Cailian Press, Alireza Erkhami, commander of Iran's Joint Air Defense Command, stated during an inspection of Iranian Army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) defensive positions that Iran, utilizing domestically developed new methods and equipment, is "prepared to ambush enemy fifth-generation fighter jets and advanced drones." He stated that in previous battles, Iranian air defense forces successfully shot down several advanced enemy fighter jets, over 160 drones including the MQ-9, Hermes, and Lucas, which were part of a US-Israeli joint invasion, and dozens of cruise missiles. They took "timely and precise" action before the enemy launched their offensive. Furthermore, in operations conducted by the Army and IRGC air defense forces, several enemy fourth- and fifth-generation fighter jets were hit, damaged, or crashed. Erkhami claimed that this achievement was due to the innovative use of advanced tactics, modern equipment, and air defense systems, which threw the enemy into disarray.