MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Troops in the Leningrad Region in northwestern Russian held large-scale drills employing artillery and army aviation, the press office of Russia’s Western Military District reported on Friday.

"The drills involved about 1,000 personnel and over 250 weapon systems. During the exercise, more than 3,000 munitions for tube artillery and rockets were expended," the press office said in a statement.

At various stages of the drills, the troops employed Podnos, Sani and Tyulpan mortars, Msta-S, Akatsiya, Gvozdika and Nona self-propelled artillery guns and Msta-B, Giatsint and D-30 towed artillery systems. The personnel also fired Grad, Uragan and Smerch multiple launch rocket systems, the statement says.

Army aviation helicopters provided cover for the artillery troops from the air during the drills, according to the statement.

During the large-scale maneuvers, the artillery teams were integrated into the single reconnaissance and fire system, which helped cut the time from detecting to striking targets. The troops also practiced joint force inter-operability in defensive operations, the press office said.