The Air Force’s major war exercise practiced this week simulates the start of a war or significant combat days, which erupt after a routine Air Force operation over Lebanese skies fired a surface-to-air missile at Hezbollah, hitting it but not dropping it.
The Air Force has a large exercise in the northern sector. Photo: IDF SpokesmanIn the IDF, which in recent months points to the Lebanese arena as more explosive than the Gaza Strip, a scenario of this kind was taken into account today as having a chance to materialize, as has already happened with an unusual shooting at an unmanned aircraft earlier this month. In attacking targets in Lebanon.
After hitting the plane, the IAF practiced an extensive target attack in Lebanon against Hezbollah targets, in southern Lebanon, Beirut and the Jordan Valley region in Lebanon. In light of the Israeli response, Hezbollah responded by firing missiles at Israel, including cruise missiles and sending UAVs into the civilian and military home front.
Takeoff of an Air Force fighter jet (Photo: IDF Spokesman)A senior Air Force source: “Our freedom of air action in the north and above the skies of Lebanon is extremely important to us and therefore our response to the shooting at the plane is extremely intense.”
Defense officials estimate that if there is a significant escalation against Hezbollah, there is a high chance that it will deteriorate into a war and not end after several days of fighting.
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A senior Air Force source says that during the exercise the Air Force was able to meet the power target of attacking 3,000 targets in one day of combat. By comparison, throughout the Second Lebanon War, the Air Force attacked about 5,000 targets. The senior official believes that attacking thousands of targets a day will have a very big significance, but on the other hand he adds that the expectation that the firing on the State of Israel will stop in the first days of the fighting due to the extent of the air force’s attack and attack on Hezbollah targets
At the same time, the Air Force believes that given the ability to attack targets that has greatly improved, the soldier can focus on several different missions simultaneously, hitting gravity centers of rockets and missiles, damaging enemy infrastructure and air defense systems.
“There are a lot of targets that can be attacked in Lebanon today and the target bank is growing. In the Second Lebanon War we attacked a hundred targets a day, today we are able to attack 3,000.” The senior official clarifies that the Air Force’s plans also attack Lebanon’s infrastructure targets, such as those that actually serve Hezbollah for various purposes.
During the exercise, the Air Force also simulated the fall of fighter jets and damage to Air Force bases and the Israeli home front, and hundreds of reservists also participated. The corps noted with satisfaction that over 85 percent of the reservists showed up for the exercise even though it was a surprise exercise, at a time of one week earlier than its scheduled date.