U.S., Israel start joint drill on ballistic missile defense

JERUSALEM, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) — Israel and the United States started a joint exercise on Sunday focusing on defense against the threat of ballistic missiles, the Israeli army said.

The U.S. European Command and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) commenced the exercise known as Juniper Cobra 16 on Sunday in an eighth of a series of biennial exercises between the two countries since 2001, an IDF spokesperson said.