Iran has launched a three-day series of Air Force and missile defense exercises throughout the country, the Air Force commander said on Monday. “The drills are being conducted in more than a half of Iran’s provinces.br /br /Their main goal is to rehearse tactical operations with modern weapons and generally to upgrade the operational effectiveness of the country’s armed forces,” Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani said.br /br /He said all air-defense units of Iran’s Ground Forces would be involved, including during launches of advanced missiles and other precision guided weapons.br /br /Iran has conducted several high-profile war games this year, while promising a powerful retaliation in the event of any act of aggression against the country. The U.S. and Israel have consistently refused to rule out the possibility of military action against Iran over its refusal to halt its nuclear program.br /br /Iran recently took delivery of 29 Russian-made Tor-M1 air defense missile systems under a $700-million contract signed in late 2005. Russia has also trained Iranian Tor-M1 specialists, including radar operators and crew commanders.br /br /In July Iran successfully launched an upgraded Shahab-3 ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles), and several missiles with a range of 350 kilometers (217 miles) as part of the Great Prophet III military exercise in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, drawing a new wave of international criticism.br /br /Iran is currently under three sets of relatively mild UN Security Council sanctions for defying demands to halt uranium enrichment, which it says it needs purely for electricity generation despite Western accusations that the program is geared toward weapon production.

pCARACAS – Two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers were in Venezuela on Sept. 10 for “training flights,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said, adding he would be piloting one of the aircraft./pp”I hope that stings, ‘pitiyanquis’,” he said, using a derogatory term for Venezuelan opponents who have perceived U.S. sympathies./pp”What’s more, I’m going to take the controls of one of these monsters,” boasted the president, a former paratrooper and left-wing politician who has avowed antagonism towards the United States./pp”It’s been a while since these planes have been around these parts, and Russia decided a couple of years ago to revive its strategic aviation program,” Chavez said during the inauguration of a medical center./ppThe moves came amid soaring tensions between Russia and the United States, including over the presence of U.S. naval vessels sent close to Russian shores to deliver aid to Georgia./ppChavez also said plans for joint Russian-Venezuelan naval exercises in the region in November were currently being worked out, and said his closeness to the Kremlin would result in a cooperation that would “strengthen the country.”/ppHis announcement confirmed an Interfax report in Russia citing the Russian defense ministry saying the bombers would be in Venezuela for training flights over “neutral waters.”/ppRussia said Sept. 8 it was dispatching a nuclear cruiser and other warships and planes to the Caribbean for the joint exercises with Venezuela – the first such maneuvers in the U.S. vicinity since the Cold War./ppA spokesman for the Russian navy said Sept. 8 that the November maneuvers would take place under an agreement sealed when the leaders of the two countries met in Moscow in July./ppAmong the Russian ships to take part in the exercises would be the heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Peter the Great, a vessel with massive firepower whose cruise missiles can deliver nuclear or conventional warheads./ppForeign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Sept. 8 that the exercises were “not in any way connected to the current situation in the Caucasus,” and were “not aimed at any third country.”/ppAnalysts said the Russian navy presence in Venezuela was more symbolic than military, though it did nothing assuage fears that Cold War-type tensions were building./ppThomas Gomart of the Paris-based French Institute of International Relations noted that, up to now, Russia had contented itself with selling arms, notably fighter-bombers, to Caracas./ppBut the announcement of the Caribbean maneuvers seemed to be both an overt challenge to U.S. power and a gesture of support to Chavez’s radical policies, he said./ppThe Tupolev Tu-160 bombers were tracked by NATO jets on their flight to Venezuela, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing the defense ministry./ppThe planes – huge supersonic combat aircraft similar to the U.S. B1 bombers, capable of flying long missions with a heavy payload – are capable of carrying nuclear or conventional bombs and/or cruise and guided missiles./ppAccording to Globalsecurity.org, there are 14 of the bombers in the Russian air force, after a 2003 crash destroyed one of them./p

A MiG-29 fighter aircraft crashed near here today during a training sortie but the pilot ejected safely. “The MiG-29 aircraft was on a one-on-one training flight when the pilot lost control and it crashed.p The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Dheer ejected out safely,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani said in New Delhi. This is the sixth IAF aircraft to crash this year./pp “There is no information as yet about any casualty on the ground when the aircraft crashed about 50 km west of the Jamnagar air base. As far as I know, it is vacant plot of land where the aircraft crashed,” Upasani said./pp The MiG-29 belonged to the IAF’s 28 Squadron and it had taken off from Jamnagar for the training exercise. The crash took place at 11.23 hours, he said./pp Five crashes involved a MiG-27, two MiG-21s, a Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer and a Kiran trainer have taken place this year. A pilot was killed in one of the crashes./pp In January this year, a MiG-27 crashed near Hashimara in North Bengal, followed by a MiG-21 crash near Bhuj in Gujarat in February. In April, a Hawk trainer crashed at Bidar, Karnataka and in May a Kiran trainer crashed at Dindigul near Hyderabad, when a lady trainee pilot was killed./p In the fifth incident, also in May, a MiG-21 from Bagdogra air base crashed.