Israel-US air force missile system training ends

The US and Israel on Sunday completed a four week air defence training exercise which saw America’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system deployed in southern Israel.

The training exercise was launched on 4 March with the US European Command (US EUCOM) sending 250 officers and soldiers to take part.

“Since then, some 150 Israeli Air Force personnel, mostly reservists, have trained alongside their American counterparts, learning how to work with the THAAD system, which is designed to intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles,”  the Times of Israel reported.

“THAAD is the most advanced integrated air and missile defence system in the world, and this deployment readiness exercise demonstrates that US forces are agile, and can respond quickly and unpredictably to any threat, anywhere, at any time,” US EUCOM said in a statement at the start of the exercise.

“The THAAD was deployed in Israel, we did a month of exercises with it. At the end of this month, it will go back to its place, and we will have improved our air defenses,” Colonel Guy Amosi, deputy commander of the Israeli Air Force’s Megiddo unit, which led the joint exercise told the Times of Israel.

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