TEHRAN, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran testified S-200 air defense missile system "successfully" in an ongoing military drill in the east of the country, semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.
Iran launched a large-scale joint air defense drill on Monday, code-named "Modafe ' an-e Aseman-e Velayat 4", or "The Defenders of the Sky of Guardianship 4", in which Iran's Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) participated.
On the third day of the drill on Wednesday, the S-200 air defense missile was launched in Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas "successfully", said the commander of Iranian Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, Farzad Esmaili, adding that the missile system has been developed for high altitude targets.
The missile system can also confront the strategic aircrafts and semi-ballistic missile, Esmaili was quoted as saying.
In July, 2011, IRGC said that Iran had managed to upgrade the Russian-made long-range S-200 air defense system into an entirely new apparatus, according to local media.
Esmaili said Iran had introduced such wholesale enhancements into the system that it could be assigned a new name. "Of course, the upgrade one has received the confirmation and commendation from the Russian manufacturers," Esmaili was quoted as saying.
In 2007, Iran and Russia signed a contract for the S-300 system.
In September 2010, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning shipments to Iran of the weapons and equipment listed in the UN resolution.
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