Israel and visiting US troops began a biennial air-defence exercise on Thursday that Israeli security sources said aimed to boost the Jewish state's preparedness for any future Iranian missile strike. The month-long war game, codenamed Juniper Cobra, will test Israel's Arrow II missile-killer system in conjunction with US-supplied Patriot batteries, which shoot down incoming threats at lower altitudes. Israeli and US officials described the drill, last held in 2001 on the eve of the Iraq war, as routine.
"There is absolutely no connection with this exercise and any event in the region," US Army spokeswoman Connie Summers told the American military newspaper Stars and Stripes.
But Israeli security sources said Juniper Cobra would treat Iran's most advanced Shahab-3 missiles, which are thought capable of reaching Israel, as the main "threat".
"These war games always take a real enemy into consideration," said a source. "Last time, it was Iraq's Scud missiles. This time around, it's the Iranian Shahabs."
Fears of a confrontation between Israel and arch-foe Iran have risen in recent months. Israel and its US ally accuse the Islamic Republic of seeking nuclear arms and have hinted at military action as a final option to stop it getting the bomb.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for energy needs only and that the Shahab is intended as a deterrent - especially against Israel's assumed atomic arsenal. Iranian officials have vowed to retaliate if the country is attacked.
The Arrow is the world's only system capable of intercepting missiles at atmospheric level, an advantage considered key to prevent devastating fallout from non-conventional warheads.
Iraq fired 39 Scuds with conventional warheads at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War, causing one death and extensive damage in residential neighbourhoods mainly on the Mediterranean coast.
Patriot missiles supplied to Israel were largely ineffective in intercepting the Scuds but have since been upgraded.
Independent experts estimate the Arrow's success rate at 95 percent but some doubt whether it would be reliable against a salvo of Shahab-3s, which are four times faster than Scuds.
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