Israeli Air Force to host 7 nations in its largest-ever air drill
By: Barbara Opall-Rome, March 21, 2017 (
http://www.defensenews.com/articles/israeli-air-force-to-host-7-nations-in-its-largest-ever-air-drill

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli Air Force will host flying forces from seven
nations later this year in the largest and most complex air exercise in its
history.

Nearly 100 aircraft and several hundreds of air warriors and support crews
from the United States, Greece, Poland, France, Germany, India and Italy
will converge here in the autumn for Blue Flag, a biennial, two-week drill
aimed at honing the type of planning, targeting and coordinated command and
control demanded by coalitions operating in high-threat theaters.

“It will be a massive exercise; the biggest ever for the IAF. Seven nations
plus Israel,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the Israeli Air Force's chief of
international affairs.

Of the seven confirmed participants, four have never before actively
participated in Blue Flag, which began in 2013 and continued in 2015 as a
four-way exercise involving Israel, the U.S., Greece and Poland. This year,
however, four new nations are participating, along with officers and
attaches from nearly 40 countries who are expected to attend as observers.

“Everybody wants to engage and cooperate with the IAF. It’s a privilege,”
said Hecht, who spent four years on the Israel Defense Forces’ J5 planning
staff, primarily coordinating bilateral issues between the U.S. and Israel.

“People are seeing there’s a lot to learn from Israel. In our tiny airspace
and in the environment around us, things are so intense. The Russians are
here. … Many of the world’s air forces are passing through here on their way
to operations in Syria and elsewhere in the region. So we provide a sort of
battle lab in which forces can hone a spectrum of skills needed to combat
growing threats,” Hecht said.

Unlike the annual Red Flag drill hosted by the U.S. Air Force at Nellis Air
Force base in Nevada, Israel’s Blue Flag does not pit flying forces against
one another in various combat drills. Rather, said Hecht, the Israeli event
is designed to satisfy respective requirements of participating forces and
emphasize cooperation over competition.

“It’s not a competitive event. It’s about partnerships, and we tailor parts
of the drill to fit each nation’s requirements,” Hecht said. “And it's not
only the exercise itself but the buildup to the exercise where you have all
these nations planning together, getting to know one another, building
relationships and talking about how we fight.”

The first planning conference for Blue Flag was held here last month, with
another one or even two planned before the actual event later this year.
Hecht said that it gives lower-level officers and rank-and-file airmen and
aircrews the chance to forge cooperation normally reserved for the much
higher echelons.

“It’s a difference when generals meet generals to discuss cooperation and
when large numbers of fighting forces actually come together to plan and
train together. When that happens, it’s a different ballgame,” he said.

He declined to specify what exactly is planned for this year’s drill, but if
the last Blue Flag is any indication, forces will conduct many hundreds of
sorties using all of the nation’s airspace to practice air-to-air battles,
ground attacks on fixed- and moving targets, and maneuvering amid threats
from surface-to-air batteries and shoulder-launched missiles.

He did note that a featured scenario of this year’s drill is likely to
involve precision airstrikes in built-up areas, where the goal is to
minimize harm to civilians or property.

“This is much bigger than anything we’ve done before, and we’re all excited
for the opportunity to come together and build partnerships and share
knowledge,” he said.

Twitter: @opallrome