Military sources said the highlight of the two week exercise would be a
simulation of an Iranian missile salvo toward Israel. They said the scenario
would test the capability of a network of Israeli and U.S. assets to
intercept Iranian incoming intermediate-range ballistic missiles as well as
distinguish between genuine and bogus warheads.
"Another scenario would be of an Iranian unconventional missile attack
and civil defense response," a military source said.
Juniper Cobra, scheduled to last until Nov. 5, was planned more than 18
months ago, the military said. The Oct. 20 military statement said 1,000
members of the U.S. military's European Command and 15 ships have arrived to
participate, Middle East Newsline reported.
"It is a welcome opportunity to learn from each other and to continue
building partnership capacity between the two forces," the Israeli military
said.
Officials said Eucom has transported such missile defense assets as
PAC-3, Aegis and the Terminal High Altitude Defense system. They said these
assets would be interoperable with Israel's fleet of enhanced PAC-2 and
Arrow missile defense batteries.
Juniper also plans to be the first Israeli exercise to include a
U.S.-origin X-band early-warning radar, AN/TPY-2. In late 2008, Eucom
transferred the phased-array radar, produced by Raytheon, to an Israel Air
Force base.
The statement said about 1,000 Israeli soldiers were participating in
Juniper. The Israeli military said roads in the Jewish state might be closed
during the exercise and that U.S. soldiers would be
"temporarily deployed to a number of locations in Israel in the vicinity of
civilian areas."
"Troop movements and other activities may be observed and a number of
roads may be closed for short periods of time," the statement said. "The
exercise will have minimal environmental impact, and participants will
follow protections and practices that are in place to maintain a low
impact."
