国际英语新闻：Iran tests radars, air defense system in military drill

TEHRAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran has successfully test-fired indigenous advanced air defense system dubbed "Mersad" and various radar systems on Thursday, the third day of its air defense drill, local media reported.

"Mersad medium-range air defense system was successfully test- fired in one of the rifle ranges of the country's air defense," spokesman of the drill Brigadier General Hamid Arjangi was quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency as saying.

"It is a completely indigenous digital system and is able to deal with electronic wars. It can intercept and annihilate modern aircraft in low and high altitudes and connect to radar network," Arjangi said.

Also, Iran's radar network managed to locate small-scale stealth radar drones of the hypothetical enemy on the third day of drill, the commander said, according to ISNA.

Meanwhile, various kinds of fixed and mobile radars indigenously manufactured or refurbished were also tested Thursday.

During the day, the country's radar systems, relaying intelligence to the unified command and control networks, were utilized and examined.

According Arjangi, reconnaissance missions to detect enemies using radars were also on the agenda of the third day of the drill, local satellite Press TV said.

During the second day of the drill on Wednesday, advanced communication equipment and modern electro-optical systems were successfully tested, Press TV said.

At the beginning of the first stage of the exercise on Tuesday, "aircraft of the (hypothetical) enemy dubbed 'Orange Forces' were identified and intercepted by our radar systems and then commands to confront the enemy were issued," Arjangi said.