TEHRAN, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Tuesday unveiled the maneuver of air defense systems stored in underground tunnels.
Video footage cited by Tasnim news agency showed a homegrown air defense system belonging to the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) driving out of an underground tunnel.
The unveiling came as Iran launched a large-scale real-combat air defense exercise codenamed Modafean Aseman-e Velayat 1401.
During the drill, invading targets were successfully destroyed by the homegrown Khordad 15th and Khordad 3rd air defense systems of the army's air force and IRGC's Aerospace Division respectively, official news agency IRNA reported.
In addition, two other domestically-developed air defense systems of Dezful belonging to the IRGC's Aerospace Division, and Majid of the army, destroyed the cruise missiles fired at the area of the maneuver.
Commenting on the achievements, the drill's spokesman Abbas Farajpour said the homegrown air defense systems managed to successfully track and destroy the targets assigned to them by the country's integrated air defense network.
He added that attacking drones that intended to enter the area of the maneuver were detected and tracked by the country's radar network, and in coordination with the integrated air defense network, they were assigned to the Majid system for being shot down.
Farajpour said among the objectives of the drill are putting up a robust and multilayered defense against airborne attacks of any kind, evaluating the effectiveness and preparedness of homegrown equipment, and providing the country's critical centers with effective protection.
The Khordad 15th system is a medium-range one capable of hitting a wide spectrum of invading aircraft, such as reconnaissance planes, bombers and tactical fighters. The air defense system can detect and trace six targets simultaneously and hit them with a diverse spectrum of homegrown missiles.
The Khordad 3rd system is equipped with active phased array radars and can engage with four targets simultaneously, firing two missiles at each.
Majid air defense system is an agile electro-optic system with an operational range of eight kilometers. Dezful is a mobile short-range air defense system used for hitting different flying targets including fixed-wing aircraft, manned and unmanned helicopters, cruise missiles and even bombs and missiles dropped by airplanes. ■
