Following the delivery of advanced Russian air defense systems to Syria, the Israeli Air Force held joint drills with the Hellenic Air Force in Greece over the last 12 days, as part of the growing defense cooperation between the two countries.
The IAF reportedly brought 11 F-16 fighter jets to the drill as well as one of its airborne early warning and control surveillance aircraft known as the Nachshon, according to Kathimerini, a Greek news site.
The purpose of the drills was to improve combat interoperability between the two air forces. The air forces practiced dogfights, ground bombing runs as well as flying in environments threatened by advanced surface-to-air missile systems.
Israel is particularly concerned by the recent delivery of the S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system to Syria. The advanced S-300 is a major upgrade to the Syrian air defenses and could pose a threat to Israeli jets on missions as the long-range missile defense system can track objects, such as aircraft and ballistic missiles over a range of 300 kilometers.
According to foreign reports, Israeli pilots have already trained to defeat the system, training in Greece and Cyprus where the system has been in operation since the late 1990s.