IAF, USAF hold joint F-35 drill in southern Israel
Drill was given special permission to take place despite continued spread of coronavirus.
By ANNA AHRONHEIMIAF, USAF hold joint F-35 drill in southern Israel(photo credit: IAF)
Despite the coronavirus, Israeli Air Force F-35s trained alongside American F-35s on Sunday in the Enduring Lightening training exercise.The drill had pilots drill on “a wide variety of operational theaters while strengthening the cooperation between the forces,” as well as face various aerial and ground threats the IAF said in a statementThe drill saw Israeli Adir F-35s aircraft from the IAF’s 140 Golden Eagle Squadron train alongside F-35s from the USAF’s 34th fighter squadron, as well as IAF’s 122 squadron which operates the Nahshon Gulfstream G-500 aircraft.Maj. M, leader of the exercise on behalf of the 140 squadron, was quoted by the IAF’s website as saying that "this will be the second time we'll fly alongside an American F-35. We aspire to stay as connected as possible to countries involved in its development project, and training with the Americans presents an excellent opportunity to do so since they have a lot of knowledge and expertise on the matter. The exercise we conducted was intimate. The forces flew in two formations of four, and communicated directly as opposed to through an indirect channel.”Despite the cancellation of all international joint exercises because of the continued spread of the deadly coronavirus across the globe, the drill had received special permission as it was due to take part in the air with no person-to-person contact.
