The Iranian Army has kicked off the second phase of the “Eqtedar 1403” air defense drill, focusing on the protection of the national airspace amid efforts to further bolster the country’s defense capabilities. Iran’s homegrown ‘Majid’ air defense missile system took the lead during the new stage of the drill by bringing down various types of pilotless aircraft on Tuesday. During this phase of the comprehensive maneuver, tactics to detect, track, intercept and shoot down hostile targets are set to be practiced. The air defense units participating in the exercise will employ indigenous radar systems as well as a surveillance network in the general areas of the drill, which covers the southwestern and central sectors of Iran. Command and control centers will use homegrown sophisticated active and passive radar systems, and utilize signal and electro-optical monitoring to track hostile targets in the war game zone. Upon interception, smart command-and-control systems will assign appropriate air defense systems to neutralize threats.