In November, Israel hosted its 11-day “Blue Flag” exercise with the participation of seven foreign air forces. The biennial maneuvers are conducted from the air base at Uvda, just north of Eilat. Attachés from 40 nations observed the exercise. Participating nations included regulars Greece, Poland, Italy and the USA. Taking part for the first time were pilots from India, France and Germany.

Around 100 aircraft and more than 1,000 ground crew simulated extreme situations as realistically as possible.

Eran Lerman, of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, explained that the exercise demonstrated the quality of the Israel Air Force, while enabling it to also gain insight into the methods of other air forces. Furthermore, there is great strategic importance in...

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