http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=55436

[isfahan]

First Published: 2012-11-12


Iran launches air drill as 'strong warning' to enemies


General says air defence exercise is aimed at optimising Iran
deterrent capabilities as well as sending ‘strong warning’ to those
threatening it with military strikes.


Middle East Online

Fighter jets and bombers will be used

TEHRAN - 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.

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.

Iran frequently conducts missile tests and manoeuvres to underline its
military muscle should it come under external threat.

Such exercises have multiplied in recent years amid growing tensions
with the West and Israeli threats of possible air strikes on Iran's
nuclear facilities.

"For those who are thinking of aggression against the Islamic Republic
of Iran, the exercise should be seen as a strong warning," drills
spokesman Brigadier General Shahrokh Shahram told Iran's English-
language Press TV.

He did not elaborate.

The drone incident in the Gulf occurred on November 1, made public by
the Pentagon a week later, heightening tension between Iran and the US
amid a mounting crisis over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Iran said the unarmed Predator drone had entered its airspace and that
its jets fired warning shots.

The Pentagon denied the drone had entered Iranian airspace and warned
of a stronger response should there be a repeat of such an incident.