The U.S. and Israeli air forces are carrying out a two-week set of joint maneuvers designed to improve interoperability in the air.
The exercise, “Juniper Stallion 13" is a combined, bilateral F-15 and F-16 air to air exercise aimed at fine-tuning cooperation between the two air forces.
The drill, began last week in Israel, and which has been in planning for more than a year, is expected to continue for two weeks.
U.S. European Command said the exercise is an annual training event with “no relation to current real-world events.”
While Israeli and American pilots are fine-tuning their skills in the skies, soldiers from the IDF Kfir Infantry Brigade have been training with sophisticated robots.
The elite special forces of the Lavi Battalion are also learning how to fight terrorists in tunnels beneath the surface of the Earth.
“We understand that in the next war, the brigades will need to face a different kind of enemy,” company commander major Baruch Ram told the IDF Blog.
He added that a scenario in which soldiers are forced to deal with combat in shrubland – terrain with dense vegetation – as well as urban areas and underground terrain as well, “all three terrains in one battle, is likely.”