US-Israel Friendship IDF Spokesperson MAY 4, 2026
WATCH Best partners: Israel and the U.S. armed forces
The U.S. and Israel maintain one of the closest and most robust military partnerships in the world.
Joint Technology and Development: The two countries collaborate extensively on defense R&D:
- Missile defense: Co-development and funding of systems like Iron Dome (with U.S. co-production involving companies like Raytheon), David's Sling, and Arrow.
- Other projects include the Trophy Active Protection System (now on U.S. tanks), enhancements to the F-35, and work on lasers, cyber, AI, counter-drone, and anti-tunneling tech.
- Israel provides battle-tested innovations that improve U.S. capabilities (e.g., against missiles, drones, and asymmetric threats).
Joint Military Exercises and Interoperability. Regular drills build readiness:
- Juniper Cobra (biennial, tests missile defense and interoperability).
- Juniper Oak (large-scale, all-domain exercises involving air, land, sea, cyber, and space; one of the biggest ever).
- Air exercises (e.g., with F-35s, B-52s), naval drills (e.g., Intrinsic Defender, Red Sea operations), and others.
U.S. and Israeli forces train together frequently, enhancing combined operations.
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