BICOM

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) will participate in a joint training exercise with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Britain later this year.

According to a report by Anshel Pfeffer in the Jewish Chronicle, Israeli aircrew and aircraft have been invited to participate in the Cobra Warrior exercise in September 2019 at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

The Cobra Warrior exercise is the RAF’s largest collective training exercise and is the culmination of the advanced Qualified Weapons Instructor course. The exercise usually includes crew and aircraft from other allied air forces such as Germany and Italy, who fly together with the British teams in complex combat scenarios.

Participants are distributed at bases all over the UK where they practice potential combat roles. Some are simple defensive missions, with Typhoons defending the ISTAR, C2 and Air-to-Air platforms (the ‘Heavies’) from realistic attacking ‘Red Air’. These heavy platforms include the RAF’s Airseeker, Sentry and Sentinel aircraft from RAF Waddington as well as Transall C160’s and an Airbus A310 of the German Air Force, with engagements taking place over the east coast and North Sea.

Pfeffer writes that 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. Last year, Israeli combat pilots were invited to a joint training seminar with RAF Typhoon aircrew, but they did not arrive with their own aircraft.

Britain is the fourth country to receive F-35 stealth fighters, after the US, Israel and Italy. Israel is one of the only countries that have deployed the F-35 in combat operations, making the IAF a valuable strategic partner for the RAF as it expands its F-35 capability and begins to deploy them in operations against ISIS in Syria later this year.

The RAF is expected to take part in Blue Flag 2020, Israel’s international air exercise at the Uvda airbase in the Negev.