Article Posted on : - Oct 09, 2011

TEHRAN (AP): A senior military commander says Iran's air defence units have been equipped with advanced radars capable of detecting unmanned drones.

General Farzad Esmaeili says Iran in the past was unable to detect small drones but can now trace and shoot them down over its airspace.

He made the comment in an interview with the official IRNA news agency on Saturday.

Esmaeili is commander of the Khatam-ol-Anbia Air Defence Headquarters.

Iran has a locally made radar system with a range of some 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometres).

In January, Iran claimed to have shot down two US pilotless spy planes that had violated its airspace, though the US military said it had no record of that.

Iran restructured its military in 2009 in an effort to improve its air defences.