Emiratis to train alongside Israelis in US air-force excercise

A large-scale aerial exercise in the US will bring together Israeli and United Arab Emirates air forces later this month, Israeli Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

03 August, 2016

UAE jets will take part in the US Red Flag exercise in Nevada desert [Getty]

Emirati aircrafts are set to fly alongside Israeli planes in a large-scale exercise later this month, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

United Arab Emirates jets will take part in the United States Air Force's Red Flag exercise in Nevada desert, scheduled to begin in two weeks.

The exercise is considered to be the US military's premier air-to-air combat training, in which participating countries are divided to two teams to train their aviation skills, according to the US Air Force.

"For the second and fourth Red Flag, we will be including foreign players which include the United Kingdom, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, and Spain," Colonel Jeffrey Weed, a Combat Training Squadron commander in the US Air Force, announced after the 2015 Red Flag exercise.

During the exercise last summer, Jordanian pilots trained closely their Israeli counterparts.

While Israel has no official diplomatic relations with the UAE, it recently opened a mission in Abu Dhabi, apparently for the purpose of upholding ties with UN's International Renewable Energy Agency [IRENA], headquartered in the UAE.

Israel's Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold visited Abu Dhabi in 2015.

However, the UAE remains officially part of the Arab League boycott of Israel, participating in a conference of Arab nations on Tuesday for the continued support for boycott campaigns against Tel Aviv.