About 100 aircraft took off to intercept aerial targets in course of the CIS Joint air defence system training. (Russia Defense Ministry Photo)

MOSCOW, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Seven members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on Wednesday launched a massive joint air defense drill involving around 100 combat aircraft, radar troops and air defense units, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Joint Air Defense System (JADS) drill, aimed at checking the combat readiness of duty forces, began with the discovery of test targets in eastern European and Central Asian regions, with the participation of Russian Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic missile carrier-bombers as well as Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, according to the ministry.

During the training, the participants will rehearse interception of aircraft illegally crossing CIS borders, including hijacked aircraft.

The drill involves more than 130 command and control centers at various levels of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which were coordinated by the Russian Aerospace Forces Control Center located in the Moscow region, said the ministry.

Established in 1995, JADS is a unified air defense shield of the CIS.