Juniper Cobra: 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade Trains with the IDF

The air defense crews of the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade's 5th Battalion have been training directly with IDF's 137th Theater Missile Defense Battalion in preparation for a joint military exercise in 2007. The exercise, Juniper Cobra, is designed to test and improve the effectiveness of both nations' air defense artillery systems. Intense planning and preparation is required to complete the operation every year.

The training is taking place in Ansbach, Germany at the Patriot Conduct of Fire Trainer. Both Israelis and Americans said they enjoyed the experience in working together.

“We are practicing techniques and procedures with our Israeli counterparts to work out interoperability issues with the Patriot system and the (Israeli) Arrow system, and trying to resolve those issues prior to JC07(Juniper Cobra 2007),” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lloyd Chaffee.

Clayton Skubis, a tactical control assistant said, “I learned a lot in Israel. It was nice to be there and to be with the Israelis.”

The Patriot system was originally designed by the United States to thwart illegal aircraft from the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but was later developed against ballistic missle strikes in the first Gulf War. After Iraq fired several scud missles into Israel, the Israeli Army began developing their own version of the Patriot System.

Source: Defense Talk, Army News Service, “Air defenders train with Israeli counterparts,” (November 4, 2005)