Israel, US Rehearse State of the Art Air Defense Umbrella

A massive air defense drill under way in the Zionist entity will join Israeli and US systems to create the world's most advanced anti-missile umbrella to protect Israel, officials said on Thursday.

Head of the Israeli Air Force's Air Defense Division Brig.-Gen. Doron Gavish told Ynet that the exercise was the fifth of its kind, and "has been in the works for the past five months. It has nothing to do with any regional development."

The Juniper Cobra 10 exercises, the fifth in a series of joint air defense drills between the allies, began this week and comes amid heightened tension between Israel and arch-foe Iran.

Some 1,000 US soldiers will take part in the two-week exercise combining Israeli and US systems to "create the world's most advanced air defense system to protect our citizens and homes from attack," the commander of Israel's Air Defense Corps, Brigadier General Doron Gavish, told reporters.

Israeli and US commanders refused to describe the scenarios they are simulating, but said they would practice merging different anti-missile systems that defend simultaneously against long-, medium- and short-range missiles.

Israeli media reported that the exercise would likely include a scenario of a combined attack from Iran together with shorter range barrages from Syria and the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah.

Rear Admiral John Richardson, the commander of the US forces, said systems used would include the American THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), the ship-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, and the Patriot anti-aircraft system, as well as the Israeli Arrow (Hetz) II.

Israel and the US have cooperated in missile defense since the US sent batteries of Patriot missiles to Israel during the first Gulf War. Israel's air defenses have since been further tested. Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets into the Zionist entity during the Second Lebanon War and Palestinian resistance fighters have lobbed thousands of improvised rockets from the Gaza Strip.

Spokesmen on both sides claimed that the biennial drill was unrelated to world events and that planning for the fifth Juniper Cobra drill "started over a year and a half ago", but Israel Radio quoted an unnamed commander as saying it served "to prepare for a nuclear Iran."

Israel, which is assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal with more than 200 nuclear heads, has hinted it could resort to force to prevent its arch-foe attaining the means to threaten its existence.

But some analysts believe that tactical limitations, and U.S. misgivings about pre-emptive strikes, may compel Israel to accept a more defensive posture with the help of its top ally.

Iran denies seeking the bomb confirming that the nuclear program is its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) while Israel, is not a signatory for this treaty. Iran has threatened to retaliate for any attack by firing its medium-range missiles at the Zionist entity.

Juniper Cobra will take part in three stages, deploying US forces, simulating attacks and finally a live-fire testing of the Patriot system, Richardson said, adding that all US forces would leave the region once the drill ended.