According to the spokesman of the drills, Second Brigadier General Abbas Farajpour, this year, the maneuvers focus on protecting the country’s strategic sites with the help of homegrown missile, radar and reconnaissance systems as well as the electronic war, communication and monitoring equipment.

“The first stage of the drill involves the expansion and deployment of defense systems, including missile and radar systems with a focus on the mobility and rapid response of the operational forces.”

It also covers the principles of passive defense to deceive the enemy and in the next step to establish secure and multi-layered communication between defense systems through an integrated air defense network to make decisions appropriate to the threat, he added.

The general noted that Iranian domestically manufactured air defense equipment will be employed during the drills.

With over four decades of arms embargo imposed against the country by the west, Iran has had no way but to stand on its own feet to build up its military arsenal. Today, Iran says over 80 percent of its defense equipment are indigenous.

Iran’s army says with its domestic air defense equipment, Iran’s skies are safer than ever. However, army commanders here say Iran will never initiate a war against any country and its military might serves only defensive purposes.