The forum took place with air force commanders from Italy, the USA, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Greece, Norway, Spain, France, Cyprus and Croatia, who worked to encourage productivity and mutual learning among the various air forces about corps management and maintaining operational competence amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The various commanders exchanged information they gathered during the outbreak and the operations carried out by the forces in their respective countries in order to learn from each others' experiences and to increase cooperation amid the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.
In March, the 10th biannual Juniper Cobra exercise between the IDF and United States European Command (EUCOM) was suspended, as fears over coronavirus rattled Israel and the world.
“In light of the Health Ministry’s instructions and a situational assessment regarding the spread of the coronavirus, and in close coordination with EUCOM, the [IDF] chief of staff and the EUCOM commander decided to halt the exercise,” the IDF said in a statement at the time.Later that month, IAF F-35s trained alongside US Air Force F-35s in the Enduring Lightening training exercise. Despite the cancellation of all international joint exercises because of the continued spread of the deadly coronavirus across the globe, the drill had received special permission as it was due to take part in the air with no person-to-person contact.
Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.