Israel, along with the US and several European NATO allies, this week has ended its Blue Flag maneuvers, part of which focused on countering advanced air defenses, such as Russia’s S-400 system.
The exercise took place between November 3 and 14 at the Uvda air base, in the Negev desert, in southern Israel.
Around one thousand military and 70 Israeli, American, German, Italian and Greek fighter jets participated in the exercises, which included for the first time f-35 F-35 fighters.
Also involved were Israeli Patriot missile batteries, manufactured in the US, which were “modified” to simulate the advanced Russian S-400 systems, reports Breaking Defense, without revealing more details of the training.
Moscow deployed S-400 systems in Syria to defend its Jmeimim air base in Latakia, which it has supplied to Turkey, a NATO member, and has offered to Saudi Arabia.
Deliveries to Ankara were made despite pressure from Washington, which tried to persuade its ally to abandon the idea of buying those systems, acquiring the Patriots instead.
The S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile system is designed to provide high-efficiency protection against airstrikes with strategic ballistic cruise, tactical and other missiles.
Thus, it is able to achieve targets that move in the air, including airplanes and cruise missiles, from a distance of 400 kilometers.
At the same time, these units can destroy ballistic targets that move at altitudes between a few meters and several tens of kilometers and at speeds of up to 4.8 kilometers per second.
They can also monitor up to 36 aerial targets of any type simultaneously and counterattack with up to 72 missiles.
Source: ActualidadRT
