By Aryeh Savir/TPS • 3 March, 2020
The IDF and the US Army’s USEUCOM (United States European Command) on Tuesday kicked off the Juniper Cobra 2020 drill that brings together personnel from both armies for a series of joint drills focused primarily on air defense.
Juniper Cobra is a US-Israel military drill that occurs every two years and tests the nations’ joint response to rocket attacks.
The objectives of the exercise are “to strengthen the cooperation and coordination between the two militaries, to promote bilateral learning and to enhance aerial defense capabilities,” an IDF spokesperson stated.
The exercise will take place until next Friday. This is the 10th Juniper Cobra exercise in what has become a tradition that began almost 20 years ago in 2001 when the first Juniper Cobra exercise took place.
The exercise will test some 2,500 US soldiers, of which over 600 have been deployed in Israel in Israel, along with about 1,000 IDF soldiers from the Air Force’s units, logistical units, medical forces, and other IDF units.
The exercise simulates a scenario in which Israel is under attack and US forces are deployed in Israel and operate alongside the Air Force’s air defenses.
The forces will practice various simulated scenarios of missile threats and attacks while using the Israeli Arrow 2, Arrow 3, Iron Dome and David’s Sling defense systems.
Israel over the years has developed a multi-layered defense system to contend with the ever-evolving ballistic projectile threat from Iran, the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The defense system is based on four operational layers: the Iron Dome Defense System for close-range projectiles, David’s Sling Weapon System designed to contend with mid-range missiles, the Arrow-2, and the Arrow-3, for long-range missiles.
