Iran tests passive radar systems in air defense drill

Iran tested its passive radar systems and electronic warfare equipment in the massive air defense drills underway in the eastern parts of the country.Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the air defense drills, Spokesman of the four-day exercises Colonel Abolfazl Sepehri told press tv that Iran's armed forces deployed the country's most up-to-date passive radar system and hardware for electronic warfare on Saturday. Led by the Iranian Army's Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base, the armed forces also employed domestically-developed artillery, missile and composite defense systems to counter possible radar disruptions and enemy's telecommunications. Sepehri told reporters that the Iranian forces applied certain strategies to further disrupt the navigational systems of the hypothetical enemies' flying objects. Iran has recently renewed and upgraded the weapons and defense systems of its air defense units. Late in September, Iran equipped its air defense units across the country with large numbers of the home-made Mersad Air Defense Missile System. On Sunday and in the third stage of the massive air defense exercises, the power, capability, weapons and military systems of the Rapid Reaction units of Iran's Air Defense Force were tested. The Iranian Air Defense Force's rapid reaction units used their state-of-the-art, home-made weapons and systems, including multi-frequency radar equipment, anti-aircraft canons and different types of air defense missiles to force hypothetical enemy aircraft out of the country's air space. Later in the drills, the rapid reaction units tested their ability against the hypothetical enemies' surprised night raids and blitzkrieg with full radio silence. Colonel Sepehri voiced pleasure in his fully positive assessment of the performance of the rapid reaction units, saying that they have proved fully successful in repelling hypothetical enemy moves. Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base started massive air defense drills in the country's Eastern regions on Thursday to test Iran's integrated air defense network and new anti-aircraft weapons. Also on Sunday, Iran's Air Defense Force equipped its sentinels with state-of-the-art shoulder-launched rockets in a bid to increase their capability and power in defending the country's airspace. The new man-portable air defense systems were tested in the second phase of the ongoing air defense exercises. During the second phase of the drills finished on Saturday evening, air defense sentinels fired should-launched rockets at Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). A shoulder-fired rocket/missile, shoulder-launched rocket/missile or man-portable rocket/missile is a projectile fired at a target, small enough to be carried by a single person, and fired while held on one's shoulder.