IAF, US Air Force hold largest joint-military exercise in Israel's history
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| IAF plane taking off during drill Photo: Yair Sagi |
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IAF, US Air Force hold largest joint-military exercise in Israel's history
Israel, Greece,
Italy, US are holding massive aerial training exercise in Israel with
almost 100 aircraft. IDF stress: Exercise has nothing to do with Iran
Yoav Zitun
Some 50 fighter jets
belonging to Israel, Greece, the US and Italy took off Sunday morning
from the Ovda air base, signaling the beginning of the largest military
air exercise in Israel's history.
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| Blue Flag exercise takes off |
The Blue Flag exercise is being hosted by Israel
will continue until Thursday and will include more than 60 jet
fighters among them the Tornado, AMX and F-15. The IAF is also sharing
its jets, both as part of the allies' forces and as the mock-enemy they
will target.
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The IDF
stresses that the exercise's goal is to examine the group's general
aerial capabilities, not focusing on any specific operational situation;
the comments are intended to stress that the exercise is not related to
any future possible attack plan on Iran.
 IAF pilot preparing for drill (Photo: Yair Sagi)
The exercise has been in the works for over a year, and in
anticipation the IAF conducted two training flights a day during the
last six months. According to an IDF source, each one of the
participating countries is paying for the costs of its respective share
in the exercise.
Representatives from over 20 nations – including a slew of military
attachés and representatives from the Cypriot and Bulgarian air forces –
are viewing the exercise. However, the Turkish and Polish
representatives did not partake.
 IAF plane before the mission (Photo: Yair Sagi)
The Polish
delegation was forced to back out of the training mission because of
budgetary reasons, despite the fact that Polish pilots have been
training with their Israel counterparts for some months.
The exercise includes training missions to identify anti-aircraft
missiles – ranging from RPGs to advanced systems – as well as
surface-to-air ones. The exercise will also include mock dogfights.
 US, Italy, Greece, and Israeli pilots before the drill (Photo: Yair Sagi)
For
the first time, the training will include the use of a new information
system which sends live data from the plane to ground forces. "In the
past, foreign nations were uncomfortable in sharing this level
information gather after flights, but this time it is happening," a
military official involved in the exercise reported.
"The IAF has been practicing operations with foreign militaries
for more than three decades, but only recently have be begun training
together on a daily basis. This includes daily flights to Greece.
The IAF has become attractive to foreign armies because of its massive operational experience," he said.
Diplomats as well as journalists from Israel and the participating nations were invited to watch the exercise.
US Ambassador in Israel Dan Shapiro, who took a few hours off from Israel's scathing reactions to the Geneva agreement with Iran
spoke and said "We live in a tough world and dangerous world. Israel
lives in a dangerous neighborhood…It needs the best trained forces … and
it needs allies." |
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Labels: Armaments, Communications, Conflict, Greece, Israel, Italy, United States
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