‘The whole air force is in the air’: Israel holds massive, multi-front combat exercise

While the focus has been on the north, the simulated multi-front war exercise also included the Gaza front.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli Air Force has been holding a large-scale, four-day combat exercise since Sunday simulating simultaneous warfare in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon and featuring F-35 jet fighters for the first time, according to the IDF.

The drill focuses on fighting in the country’s north, against Hezbollah and Iranian forces, said the military.

It is reported to have included simulated simultaneous combat against a number of enemies who have their own advanced technology. Examples cited are the Russian S-300 and S-400 missile defense systems.

The drill has tested the Israeli home front’s ability to endure massive missile fire. It has simulated a breakdown in technology and infrastructure such as Israel Air Force communications centers which are disabled and runways which are damaged.

Fighter jets, helicopters, cargo planes, drones, air defense units, and ground support forces have all been called into action for the exercise, said the Israeli military.

Though the focus has been on the north, Syria and Lebanon, the simulated simultaneous multi-front war exercise has also included the Gaza frontier.

“The whole Air Force is in the air.” said a senior Air Force officer, according to the Arutz 7 website.

Israel has awarded a $42 million contract to Lockheed Martin to provide expansive maintenance services to the Israeli Air Force for its fleet of F-35 fighter jets.

In addition, “the ground forces are full partners in the exercise, and we have generally reached the highest levels of cooperation of the past decade,” said the senior officer, as quoted by Arutz 7.