The exercise “ONISILOS – GEDEON 2020”, which is part of the Annual Military Cooperation Program between the Republic of Cyprus and Israel, was completed today with absolute success. 

This exercise is a large-scale Joint Tactical Exercise and took place from November 17-19, 2020. The exercise was coordinated by the Air Force Command of the National Guard in collaboration with the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

Also read: “ONISILOS-GEDEON” | The exercise begins today with the participation of the Israeli Air Force

The objective of the exercise was the training of personnel in the tactics and processes for air force deployment, the enhancement of combat capacity during the execution of air operations and air defence operations, and the gaining of experience via the cooperation with the Israeli Air Force.

The exercise was conducted within the Nicosia FIR and in a large part of the land area of the Republic of Cyprus. The ground and air forces of the National Guard and Israel participated in it. The scenarios included fighter jet flights, air combat exercises, as well as attacks of specific targets at low and high altitudes which were protected by Air Defence forces deployed during the exercise. 

The organization and execution of this exercise is the culmination of the stable and enhanced cooperation between the National Guard of the Republic of Cyprus and Israel. Through this cooperation, the participants are given the opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences on the basis of which they upgrade their professional training and consequently the operational readiness of the Units, while displaying the high level of education and capacity of their sections.

Also read: Air Vice-Marshal (Ret) Gabriel Dimitriou | “In the past, F-35 were caught on radar by the Cypriot Air Defence”