(Times of Israel) Israel has just completed a major military exercise in which tanks and other ground forces were trained to be sent across rivers and other challenging terrain, in order to neutralize missile threats deep in enemy territory, the tank brigade commander who led the drill said Thursday. The day-and-night exercise was the largest of its kind in 20 years, Col. Enav Shalev told Army Radio. Shalev said Israel had the Iron Dome missile defense system that is deployed to protect southern Israel from missile fire from Gaza. But thwarting enemy missile threats ultimately required sending ground forces deep into the enemy territory from which missiles were launched. He said that "anyone with eyes in their head...can see why [the exercise] was necessary." Threats against Israel "are not decreasing. They are increasing."
2012-06-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive