NEWS

The Israeli Air Force is hosting a massive, multinational air exercise that kicked off this morning with Fighter take-offs. The exercise will last until the end of the month and will include flights over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, announced the Israeli General Staff.

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The Hellenic Air force (HAF) will participate in the exercise with four F-16 Adv. of the 336th Squadron of the 116th Combat Wing in Araxos. Except for Israel and Greece, fighters from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, and India will participate in the fifth Blue Flag exercise, the Israeli Defence Forces announced.

A variety of fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft will take part in the exercise, including the F-35, F-15, Eurofighter, Dassault Rafale, and Dassault Mirage 2000.

The aim of the exercise is to strengthen strategy, international cooperation, learning and to deepen the coordination of fifth and fourth-generation aircraft in a challenging operational environment, with an emphasis on enhancing and developing the air force’s operational capabilities.

As the Israeli army said in a statement: “During the exercise, participants will simulate air and ground-to-air battles and train to counter the threat of advanced surface-to-air missiles and fight behind enemy lines”.

After the Israeli fighter jets, the F-15 Strike Eagle and the F-16 Soufa that took part in the Greek air exercise “Iniochos 21”, which involved many of the best air forces worldwide, in which Israel also took part with a large number of aircraft, it is time for the most modern F-16s in Greece to travel to the Mediterranean country.

In the Negev desert, the pilots of the 336th Olympus Squadron with the F-16 Block 52 Advanced want to continue the tradition established by other HAF Squadrons and leave a very strong operational and military diplomacy footprint achieved through such demanding collaborations.

With information from: IDF, defenceredefined.com.cy

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