The commander of the United Arab Emirates Air Force arrived in Israel as a guest of Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin Tuesday in what was his first public visit to the country since the normalization of ties last year.
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Although the UAE was not set to participate, Ibrahim Nasser Muhammed al-Alawi flew to Israel to observe portions of the Blue Flag exercise currently underway at the Ovda Air Force Base in southern Israel.
Eleven air forces from around the world are taking part in the exercise, Israel's largest and most advanced to date.
#BlueFlag2021 Takes Off
Everything there is to know about the largest and most advanced exercise in Israel to date
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— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 14, 2021
Originally held in 2013, the biennial exercise is scheduled to last for two weeks until October 28. Around 1,500 foreign nationals are set to observe the drill, which is set to simulate challenging combat scenarios.
Seven air forces from around the world are participating: Germany, Italy, Britain, France, India, Greece, and the United States.
Various fourth and fifth-generation aircraft are taking part in the drill, including the F-35, F-15, Eurofighter, Dassault, Rafale, and Dassault Mirage 2000.
According to the Israeli military, the event marks the first deployment of a British fighter squadron in Israel since the establishment of the country, as well as the first deployments in Israel of an Indian "Mirage" fighter squadron and French "Rafale" fighter squadron.
IAF Training and Doctrine Division Commander Brig. Gen. Amir Lazar, who organized Blue Flag, said, "We're doing an international exercise with Israeli fair that focuses on missions to protect the country's skies. This is something European countries are less accustomed to. We're doing exercises with deep attacks, assistance to ground forces, and escorting cargo planes and helicopters in the image of infiltrating forces."
On Tuesday, representatives from participating countries with advanced F-35 fighter jets – Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK, the US, and Belgium – will take part in a special conference at Nevatim Air Force Base, also in the south of the country.
"We see great strategic value in holding this exercise both to the air force and the State of Israel," Lazar said. "The foreigners being a great deal of knowledge and experience in coalition flight. We develop a language through which we can talk to one another, and we learn a lot from that. There is mutual learning – how do we integrate the F-35 into a collation in battle."
Norkin said: "The joint training allows us to learn from the air forces taking part in the exercise and prepares air force personnel for scenarios in real-time with the goal of continuing to succeed in our mission – to protect the security of the State of Israel."
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