Kuwait Times

Published Date: April 15, 2009

JERUSALEM: Israel and the United States will hold their largest-ever joint missile defense drills later this year, testing three anti-ballistic missile systems, a newspaper reported yesterday. The exercise, dubbed Juniper Cobra, will be held in Israel to test the Arrow (Hetz) system as well as the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and the ship-based Aegus Ballistic Missile Defense System, the Jerusalem Post said.

Israeli and US forces have staged the Juniper Cobra exercise over the past five years but the Post said this year's drill was likely to be the most complex yet and will for the first time include the launch of interceptors. It did not give a date for the maneuvers. Israel last week carried out the latest successful test of its Arrow missile system, a costly project launched two decades ago aimed at countering strikes mainly from arch-foe Iran. Development of the Arrow is now half-funded by Israel's main al
ly, the United States.

The Jewish state has in recent years stepped up the development of several missile and rocket intercept systems aimed at countering the threat of attack from Syria, Iran and militants in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Israel considers Iran to be its main foe following repeated calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map. Widely considered to be the Middle East's sole nuclear armed state, Israel, along with Washington, suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons un
der the guise of its civilian nuclear program, a charge Tehran denies. In March, a top Iranian military commander said Tehran has missiles that can reach nuclear facilities in Israel.

Meanwhile, the United States said yesterday it is providing Lebanon with 12 unmanned military aircrafts in the coming months, the latest effort to bolster the fragile Mideast nation. Washington hopes a strengthened Lebanese military would extend state authority across the country, where the militant Hezbollah is gaining power with its arsenal of rockets that threaten another US ally, neighboring Israel.

A strong national army could be a counter to Hezbollah's weapons and could deprive the militants of the excuse to keep their arms. US officials said their support is intended to help Lebanon maintain internal security, fight terrorism and secure its borders. Since 2006, the US has provided Lebanon with more than a billion dollars in assistance, including $410 million to support security. But the aid has largely been equipment, vehicle and supplies, drawing ridicule from critics who contrast that with the h
igh-tech weapons provided to Israel.

The army was divided during the 1975-90 civil war along sectarian lines and rebuilt after the conflict largely as an internal security force. The all-volunteer, 70,000-strong force has managed to maintain a certain level of stability in the country, particularly in the last four years after Syrian forces were forced to withdraw in the political upheaval after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. It has been criticized in Lebanon for staying on the sidelines, first when Israel pounded H
ezbollah forces in 2006 and then again when Hezbollah militants swept into Beirut neighborhoods in 2008 in sectarian fighting that killed 81 people.

But that criticism has since dwindled since the army has managed to reassert control of the country. Washington has in recent months stepped up its program to aid the Lebanese military, with a decision to supply battle tanks - the first since the early 1980s - after Russia promised in December to give Lebanon 10 MiG-29 fighter jets, its first fixed-wing combat aircraft. The statement yesterday said the "Raven" aircraft the US is providing performs remote reconnaissance and surveillance, identifies target
s, provides protection and security and reports on military operations in urban areas and the results of battles.

The "Raven" has an advanced day and night electronic sensor providing immediate intelligence information, it said, adding that Lebanese air force members are in the United States training on operating the aircraft. An embassy statement issued Monday said US officials discussed with Lebanon's defense minister during a visit to Washington earlier this month continued US support to the army to help it maintain internal security, fight terrorism, secure Lebanon's borders, and implement UN Security Council Res
olution 1701 which ended a devastating 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war in southern Lebanon. - Agencies