US, Israel begin military exercise

ISTANBUL

This photo was taken during the exercise deployment on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. AA photo

The Israeli and U.S. air forces began a two-week-long bilateral aerial exercise today, according to a statement released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The European Command of the U.S. Army and the IDF have launched the Juniper Stallion 13 exercise, which aims to improve the interoperability and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli air forces.

Israeli and U.S. fighter jets, F-15s and F-16s, will perform the air-to-air exercise.

Juniper Stallion 13 is an annual training exercise and is part of the regularly scheduled training between the two nations, the statement read.