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China concludes a five-day air defense exercise on Saturday with a live-fire drill and precision attacks on air targets by ground-to-air missiles.

Photo taken on Aug. 7, 2010 shows an antiaircraft missile being fired in the military exercise coded "Vanguard-2010" in east China's Shandong Province. The five-day long air defense military exercise, the largest-scaled of its kind with over 12 thousand troops mobilized, comes to an end on Saturday. [Ji Liangyan/Xinhua]

The live-fire drill, in Shandong Province, was part of the exercise code-named "Vanguard-2010," which began Tuesday in seven cities across Henan and Shandong provinces, involving more than 12,000 personnel.

Seven types of ground-to-air weaponry, including a new type of ground-to-air missile and another state-of-the-art anti-aircraft gun, were used in intercepting and concentrating fire on air targets.

Nearly 200 military aircraft, including drones, reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets and helicopters, were involved in the five-day military drill, said Feng Zhaoju, deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Jinan Military Command.

The annual drill, consisting of two phases, focused on an emergency evacuation, strategy, reconnaissance, early warning, ground-to-air attacks and evacuation of command posts during the first phase which ended Thursday.

Its second phase included testing of air defense abilities in a "complicated electromagnetic environment."

A "Vanguard-2009A" exercise last year involved 5,000 troops from the army and air force.

"Vanguard-2008" included a 2,200-strong armored brigade from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Jinan Military Area Command.

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