Neat!
Via Times of Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces and US military ended their joint Juniper Cobra missile defense exercise this week, with live-fire tests of two anti-aircraft systems over the skies of central Israel.
The exercise, which began on March 4, simulated a massive ballistic missile attack on the State of Israel, with American and Israeli troops working together to defend the country, something officials from both militaries stressed could happen in reality.
“They will train shoulder to shoulder, the same way we will fight in times of crisis. It’s not just about an exercise,” Brig. Gen. Tzvika Haimovitch, Israel’s air defense commander, told reporters when the exercise began.
Israel considers ballistic missiles, specifically precision-guided ones, to be one of the most significant threats facing the Jewish state, in the form of the Hezbollah terrorist group’s massive arsenal of short- and medium-range rockets, as well as the intercontinental ballistic missiles that Iran is working to develop.
In total, nearly 5,000 soldiers took part in the exercise, approximately half from each army, which formally ended on Thursday, though some smaller joint drills will continue through the end of the month.
During the exercise, the two countries’ top air defense systems — for Israel the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Patriot, and Arrow; for the US the Aegis, the Patriot, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and TPY-2 radar system — were tested, though mostly in computer simulations, not live tests, officials said….
Love it!