User:Wikifan12345/2012 Joint US-Israel military exercise

The 2012 US-Israel military defense drill, referred to as the Austere Challenge is a planned defense exercise between the United States and Israeli military. The joint exercises is expected to be largest cooperative drill between the two nations. The drill will involve the deployment of thousands of US soldiers and sophisticated US missile defense systems in Israel. The exercise is expected the improve defense systems and cooperation between U.S. and Israeli forces. Originally scheduled for April 2012, the exercise was postponed.

Background
Senior American and Israeli defense officials discussed about the possibility of canceling the exercise and moving it to late 2012. It was later confirmed by senior Israeli and US military officials that the exercise was canceled on January 13 2012. The US military is currently negotiating rescheduling the exercising near the end of 2012.

The Exercise
The drill is expected to involve a serious of simulations of missile defense scenarios dealing with the objective of "creating a high level of interoperability" between the US and Israeli military defense systems. According to military officials, the goal is to create an environment where local Israeli defense systems can operate concurrently with American defense systems during a conflict. The join exercises are expected to test Israeli and American air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets. A EUCOM commander would be responsible for approving Israeli requests to deploy US missile defense systems in Israel.

Postponement
US military officials are currently in talks with Israel about rescheduling the drill at a later date in 2012. Capt. John Ross, spokesman for the United States European Command, said "It is not unusual for such exercises to be postponed, and leaders of both sides believe that the best participation of all units will be best achieved later in the year." Israeli Air Force officials took the news by surprise. A day prior to the cancellation, senior IAF officers said the drill was scheduled for Spring. The exercise was also expected to be the first time the EUCOM commander James Stavridis to participate in the