ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: Military field exercises codenamed Azm-i-Nau-4 (New Resolve-IV) ended on Monday with a display of conventional firepower near Khairpur Tameywali, Bahawalpur.

The exercises began on Sept 14 and on Monday was the final phase of validation of newly evolved concepts.

The Pakistan Air Force also took part in the exercises.

The air defence drill in which a remotely piloted aircraft (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV) was used as a target led to rumours that anti-drone technology had been displayed at the exercises.

But ISPR chief Maj Gen Asim Bajwa clarified that it was a routine exercise in air defence and not a display of any anti-drone technology.

`Drones (used by the US to target militants in tribal areas) fly at about 20,000 feet, while the UAV used for targeting could only be flying at 1,000 to 2,000 feet,` he added.

Moreover,anti-aircraftguns were used to target the UAV.

Meanwhile, it was for the first time that a defence adviser from the Indian High Commission had been invited to witness the field exercises.

The army has been updat-ing its operational preparedness for meeting emerging challenges to national security under the banner of Azm-iNau for the last five years.

`These war games crystallised a comprehensive response to the existing and emerging threats. Since June 2009, we have conducted a number of operational and logistic war games and field exercises at the army and command level to opti-mise our operational thought, all fully integrated with PAF,` a military commander said in a briefing on the field exercises.

`The exercise in particular has been highly beneficial in validating and implementing various concepts and enhancing the war fighting potential of Pakistan Army besides imparting intrinsic training to field formations,` the commander said.