DTN News: Israel Wraps Up Extensive Military Exercise / Israel Wraps Up Large Military Drill
(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM - May 23, 2009: Israel's air force May 21 wrapped up a large-scale four-day exercise which simulated its ability to defend against missile and jet strikes from Syria and Iran, a military official said.
The exercise was aimed at testing the air force's ability to counter rocket and missile attacks from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, as well as the infiltration of jets overland, the official said.
The Israeli Armored Corps is a corps of the Israel Defense Forces, since 1998 subordinate to GOC Army Headquarters. The Armored Corps is the principal maneuvering corps, and primarily bases its strength on Main Battle Tanks.
The Armored Corps is the decisive corps in GOC Army Headquarters, and bases its power on a combination of mobility, armor, and firepower. During wars, its role is, on the one hand, to lead the first line of the attacking forces and to clear the area of the enemy, while on the other hand, to block the armor forces of the enemy and to destroy its tanks and armor. During peacetime, it reinforces the Infantry Corps while it performs security tasks, with the tanks serving as a mobile bunker.
This is the first time the Israeli army has simulated strikes from the Islamic republic, located more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away, he said.
The drill, however, did not simulate a strike on Iran, the official said, amid foreign media reports that Israel had recently performed massive air exercises to simulate strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.
On May 20, Iran said it had successfully test-fired a new medium-range surface to surface missile capable of reaching Israel, a move which raised concern in the United States.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that the exercise "was successful and important. What we saw strengthens our security that there is someone we can trust."
Heavy air force jet and helicopter activity was noticeable across the country during the drill, among the biggest the air force has ever carried out.
An Israeli army spokesman said the exercise was "routine and part of the army's annual training plan and is intended to prepare the Israeli air force to successfully face any possible threat."
Israel, widely considered to be the Middle East's sole nuclear armed power, suspects the Islamic republic of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons, a charge that Tehran has long denied.
The Jewish state considers Tehran to be its enemy because of repeated calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that countering Iran's nuclear ambitions topped his agenda and that the Jewish state reserves its right to self-defense against Iran.
