11/17/2017 i24NEWS - IDF's largest aerial military exercise tests coordination with other countries

y DIPLOMACY & DEFENSE IDF's largest aerial military exercise tests coordination with other countries
m o z

IDF's largest aerial military exercise tests coordination

with other countries
11/09/2017 5:18:42 PM UPDATED ON 11/10/2017 8:21:15 AM

Written by Shai Ben-Ari

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A main objective of the exercise is to enhance mechanisms of coordination for a real

war-time scenario

A major international air drill known as the Blue Flag exercise is currently underway in southern
Israel, involving nearly 70 planes from eight different countries including Germany, France, Italy,
Greece, Poland, India, and the United States in addition to Israel.

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Taking place at Ovda air base in the Negev desert, it is the largest joint air exercise ever to take
place in Israeli skies and is the largest such drill to take place anywhere in the world this year.

India, France and Germany are all first time participants, and the participation of Germanys Luftwaffe
represents a special milestone, considering the tragic history it shares with the Jewish people during
the Holocaust.

"I was there in the shelter when 6 German Eurofighters entered the shelter at Ovda, it was emotional
and exciting for me. I think that the past is the past, we cannot change it, but the relationship now
between the German air force, and Israel is based on trust," Col. I, Commander of the Ovda Air
Base, told i24NEWS.

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11/17/2017 i24NEWS - IDF's largest aerial military exercise tests coordination with other countries

Lt. Col. Gero Von Fritschen, Commander, German Air Forces

IDF's73rd Tactical
aerialAir Wing exercise
also saidtests
that coordination with other countries
y DIPLOMACY & DEFENSE largest military
the German Luftwaffes arrival in Israel was a very special moment. m o z
"A lot of people volunteered to go to Israel, we were all very excited, and everybody was very happy
when they got elected to go down to Israel," Fritschen said of Germanys participation in the drill,
which began on November 5 and will run until November 16.

IAF's 'Blue Flag' aerial military drill in Israel

IDF

The main objective of the exercise is to improve the combat readiness of the participants and to
enhance mechanisms of coordination between the air forces in a plausible war-time scenario.

In a frequent simulation practiced during the exercise, the various participating nations are members
of a Blue Team attempting to protect a given area. At the same time, theRed Team, which is
composed of Israeli F16s, is tasked with hitting targets both on the ground and in the air while
replicating flight patterns and tactics used by enemy fighter jets.

Officers told i24NEWS that the exercise does not involve simulating combat against a particular
enemy nation. Instead, the exercise challenges all the air forces to form a strategic coalition by
uniting the Blue Force against Red Force unmanned aerial vehicles, patriot missiles and F-16
fighter jets, despite the different military techniques used by each each countrys air force.

"In this exercise, we are doing everything together, starting from the planning of the scenarios,
briefing them, going out, flying them together, landing, and then debriefing them together," the
commander of Ovda Air Base explained.

Thus, with each country providing not only its own aircraft and distinct flying techniques to the
exercise, each air force is better able to glean more from one another.

The United States for its part, dispatched the largest delegation composing of seven jets and two
hundred personnel.

India sent over one plane, a C130J Super Hercules transport aircraft along with a commando force.
The Indian team will practice flying its C130J at low altitudes while attempting to evade radar, then
dropping the commandos behind enemy lines and later extracting them.

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11/17/2017 i24NEWS - IDF's largest aerial military exercise tests coordination with other countries

y DIPLOMACY & DEFENSE IDF's largest aerial military exercise tests coordination with other countries
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Exercice militaire arien Blue Flag en Isral

Tsahal

The existing diversity of techniques used by each air force will however, create hurdles to overcome
in the exercise.

"You put people in an unfamiliar scenario working with unfamiliar assets, remarked Lt. Col. Benjamin
"Skynyrd" Freeborn, Commander from the 510th Fighter Squadron in the US Air Force. You can't
predict how that's gonna happen so I think dealing with the uncertainty is probably the biggest
challenge.

Nevertheless, participants understand the necessary value of such difficulties in the exercise.

We're not gonna fight by ourselves, so any kind of partnership and the ability to build those human
relationships to go wherever we're called is very important, said LT. Col. Freeborn.

An F-15 pilot from the 133rd Squadron in the Israeli Air Force expressed similar remarks.

It's very important to build a personal relationship not only with the country, but with the pilot that's
sitting inside the jet underneath the helmet, because those are also the pilots that we're gonna meet
in the air, the pilot told i24NEWS.

Shai Ben-ari
@ShaiBenari

The #BlueFlag2017 joint air force exercise is currently underway

in southern #Israel. Germany, France and India participating for
the first time. There's also an unidentified country present
5:46 PM - Nov 9, 2017

3 20 18

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