Israel’s air force set for first-ever joint exercise with the RAF in Britain


The IDF has been invited to the annual Cobra Warrior exercise in Lincolnshire

A Typhoon fighter jet at RAF Coningsby

Anshel Pfeffer writes in TheJC:

Israeli Air Force aircrew and fighter jets are to take part in a joint exercise with the Royal Air Force in Britain for the first time.

While defence cooperation between the two countries has been intensifying at all levels in recent years, this will be the most open level of cooperation between the two air forces yet.

The RAF holds its annual Cobra Warrior exercise in September at Coningsby airbase in Lincolnshire.

It is the culmination of the advanced Qualified Weapons Instructor course, and usually also includes crew and aircraft from other allied air forces who fly together with the British teams in complex combat scenarios.

German and Italian aircraft took part in Cobra Warrior 2018 and, for the 2019 exercise, Israel has been invited to take part.

Recent British-Israeli defence cooperation has included the training of British personnel on the use of Israeli weapons systems acquired by Britain: the Watchkeeper WK450 drone, the Exactor ground-based missile and the Litening targeting pod carried by RAF Typhoon and Tornado aircraft.

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