The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the US Central Command (CENTCOM) began a joint exercise on Sunday focused on air defense, cybersecurity, intelligence and logistics.the Israeli army reported.
The IDF said the drill, dubbed Juniper Falcon, was the second in a series of joint exercises to be conducted with CENTCOM in 2023.
The first was the great Juniper Oak drill in January, the largest joint exercise ever conducted by the Israeli and US militaries.
Juniper Falcon is part of the ongoing strategic cooperation between the IDF and the US military. The IDF conducted similar drills – using the same name Juniper Falcon – with the US European Command (EUCOM) until 2020, when Israel exited EUCOM’s area of responsibility and came under CENTCOM.
“The exercise will focus on air defense, cyber and spectrum, intelligence and logistics scenarios, and will test joint US-Israeli preparedness for potential security events.the IDF said in a statement on Sunday.
“The exercise will also strengthen interoperability between the two armies,” he added.
There was no immediate comment from CENTCOM on the drill.
Israel regularly conducts various training exercises with the US military in the country, including air force exercises and missile defense exercises.
In November, the IDF and the US military conducted a series of joint air exercises, simulating attacks against Iran and its regional terrorist allies.
Then-IDF chief Aviv Kohavi said that month that joint activities with the US military in the Middle East would be “significantly expanded”.
Juniper Oak involved some 6,400 US soldiers along with more than 1,500 Israeli soldiers, and more than 140 aircraft, 12 warships and artillery systems, making it the largest joint exercise in history between the two nations.
The exercise was widely seen as a message to Iran, however US officials said the live-fire drills did not include simulations of Iranian or any other adversary targets.