The joint military exercise “Agapinor-2022” between the Israeli Defense Forces and the Cypriot National Guard is “the biggest ever in cooperation with a neighboring country”, an announcement issued on Monday by the IDF says.
The exercise, which started on Sunday, is part of a wider IDF exercise taking place in Israel, entering its fourth and last week. The Hebrew name of the joint Cypriot-Israeli drill is “Me’Ever La-Ofek”, meaning “Beyond the Horizon”.
According to the IDF announcement, the military exercise “constitutes an important component in maintaining the readiness of the IDF for a variety of operational scenarios and that military cooperation between the two nations increases joint regional stability and reinforces the ability to face shared security challenges.”
The purpose of this exercise, according to the announcement, is to present “an opportunity for troops to quickly adapt to unfamiliar territory while dealing with emergency scenarios and to train distant logistic abilities that the military might face when dealing with emergency and unfamiliar scenarios.”
IDF soldiers and reserves from the air force, the navy and amphibious forces, as well as intelligence and cyber security forces take part in the exercise.
According to the IDF announcement, the goal is to improve the readiness of troops and their abilities to conduct missions “deep in enemy territory while combining and maximizing multi-disciplinary capabilities.” The exercise will see combat helicopters assisting ground forces, evacuating the wounded by assault helicopters, directing and accompanying ground forces as well as dropping off logistical equipment by IAF transport planes.
IDF concludes that “Agapinor-2022”/”Beyond the Horizon” will take place in a variety of environments, urban and rural, “with an emphasis on unexpected events”.
Source: Cyprus News Agency