Azerbaijani and U.S. soldiers participate in a joint NATO military exercise outside Baku on April 24, 2009. (AFP PHOTO)

BAKU, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced on Friday that large-scale military exercises are slated for March 12-17.

According to a statement released by the ministry, the drills will involve up to 25,000 military personnel, 1,000 missiles, circa 250 tanks, as well as about 50 army and front-line aviation units for various purposes.

The troops will carry out a large-scale counter-offensive operation and live-fire exercises using new weapon systems at various training grounds.

The military personnel will conduct exercises to prevent various actions of the imagined-enemies in difficult conditions of mountain relief and electronic warfare environment.

The exercises will be conducted in accordance with the plan approved by President Ilham Aliyev.