Iran launches air drill as 'warning' to enemies http://tgr.ph/Xxpmpn
The Telegraph 
7:28 AM - 12 Nov 12 · Details
Iran launches air drill as 'warning' to enemies
Iran on Monday launched an air defence exercise a general said was aimed at optimising its deterrent capabilities as well as sending a "strong warning" to those threatening it with military strikes.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Photo: AP
11:04AM GMT 12 Nov 2012
The start of the manoeuvres, originally scheduled for early October but postponed without an official explanation, was announced on the website of the Revolutionary Guards, sepahnews.com.
They drill comes against a backdrop of growing tension in Gulf, but appears unconnected to an incident last week when two Iranian fighter jets fired on an unarmed US drone.
Some 8,000 troops drawn from the ranks of the Guards, the army and the Basij militia are participating in the drill, which will span four days and cover an area stretching 850,000 square kilometres (328,000 square miles) in Iran's eastern regions, according to media reports.
Various missile and artillery systems as well as fighter jets and bombers will be used in the exercise, they said.
The units will also test "fixed, mobile and tactical radar devices and tactical and airborne electronic surveillance systems," according to Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, head of the Guards' air defence command.
