Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is the military correspondent for The Times of Israel.
Israeli Air Force transport planes took off Sunday for Romania to conduct low-altitude air training over the European country.
The training, dubbed Blue Sky, officially began on Monday and was aimed at activating the IAF’s C-130 and C-130J shipping aircraft for flights into uncharted territory at low altitudes, the military said.
The military did not specify the number of aircraft from IAF Squadrons 131 and 103, however, according to civilian observers of the sky, open source flight tracking, five heavy transport aircraft were seen arriving in the country.
The IAF said pilots would also practice navigation and landing “in many and several scenarios that simulate fighting in enemy territory. “
“Training in the skies of Romania is an opportunity to challenge ourselves and become stronger beyond Israel’s borders,” said Nevatim Air Base Commander Brigadier General Gilad Keinan.
“This is vital and meaningful training for the heavy transport network and the Air Force, for the operational capability and competence of the corps and its personnel,” Keinan added.
In 2010, an IAF Yas’ur helicopter (CH-53 Sea Stallion) crashed in a joint Israeli-Romanian low-altitude educational training in the Carpathian Mountains, killing all the equipment on board: six Israelis and a Romanian Air Force officer.
An investigation made us think that the turn of the destination was maximum probably due to human error, given the poor visibility.
The 2010 training was also called Blue Sky. A monument, near the central city of Brasov, erected a year after the accident.
Other Air Force trainings involving Israeli heavy transport aircraft have been conducted in Romania in years.
In 2015, a C-130J made a long-range departure from Israel over Romania, Bulgaria and Greece.
In 2018, doctors and doctors from the Air Force’s elite unit 669 conducted an evacuation drill in Romania, simulating sending wounded from the European country to Israel in a C-130 aircraft, turned into a “flying hospital. “
The military said this week’s training was planned in advance as part of the 2022 schedule and said it is not the result of a new assessment.
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