Tasnim- The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force started an air defense exercise in northern parts of Iran on Saturday as part of the country's Armed Forces efforts to boost its defensive strength.





The main stage of the war game kicked off on Saturday morning after five days of preparatory work.

The drill, codenamed Defenders of Velayat Sanctum, covers an area of 35,000 square kilometers in the province of Semnan, east of capital Tehran.

A range of air defense equipment are utilized in the drill, including homegrown radar and missile systems with various ranges, command and control systems and electronic warfare gear.

In December 2016, the Aerospace Division of IRGC worked in cooperation with the Army�s Air Defense in a large-scale exercise, codenamed Defenders of Velayat Skies 7.

Involving more than 17,000 military forces, the war game covered an area of 496,000 square kilometers in Iran�s southern areas, mainly the provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr and Khuzestan.