(Jerusalem Post) Yaakov Katz - Israel and the U.S. will hold a large-scale missile defense exercise in early 2012 aimed at improving operational coordination between both countries' defense systems. Called "Juniper Cobra," the exercise will include Israel's Arrow 2 and Iron Dome as well as America's THAAD and Aegis ballistic missile defense system. The purpose of the exercise is to enable interoperability between Israeli and American missile defense systems in case the U.S. government decided to deploy these American systems in Israel in the event of a conflict with Iran, like it did ahead of the Gulf War in Iraq in 1991. "Juniper Cobra shows us how to defend not only with Israeli assets but also with American assets," Arieh Herzog, head of the Israel Defense Ministry's Homa Missile Defense Agency, told the 2nd Annual Israel Multinational Missile Defense Conference on Monday.
2011-07-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive