January 26, 2023
The Significance of Juniper Oak
On Monday, the United States and Israel launched Juniper Oak 23, a multi-day series of bilateral military exercises. US-Israel military exercises aren’t unusual in the region, but this one stands out. This exercise’s size, scope, and complexity set it apart from any that came before. It stands to be a demonstration of two of the world’s most advanced militaries working together in ways most cannot.
Military capabilities analysts apply some basic litmus tests when evaluating a military force’s level of competence. The first is, “can this force perform combined arms maneuver?” For instance, can infantry coordinate with armor and artillery on the battlefield? It seems basic, but we’ve seen supposedly credible militaries fail this basic test, such as Russia has in Ukraine.
If successful, this joint exercise will have important foreign policy implications for both the United States and Israel, sending messages to friends, foes, and those that remain somewhere in between.
Another litmus test (and of course, there are others in between, but I hope, dear reader, you’ll forgive me for simplifying this for our purposes here) is “jointness.” Can land forces (army) coordinate and receive air support (air force) or seaborne fires (navy) in battle? How well can separate and distinct military services operate together? The more services and components there are working together, the more sophisticated and capable a military is. Yet another test of military capability is “interoperability.”
Read the full article from Inkstick.
More from CNAS
-
Sharper: Iran and the Axis of Upheaval
Commentary
Despite suffering geopolitical setbacks since Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, a potentially nuclear Iran continues to pose a significant threat to U.S. and allied interes...
By Delaney Soliday & Charles Horn
-
Ziemba: Trump, Gaza Plan Unlikely to Come to Fruition
Video
Rachel Ziemba, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), discusses Donald Trump's proposal that the US should take control of the devastated G...
By Rachel Ziemba
-
Sharper: Trump's First 100 Days
Commentary
Donald Trump takes office in a complex and volatile global environment. Rising tensions with China, the continued war in Ukraine, and instability in the Middle East all pose s...
By Charles Horn
-
Convene the E3 to Address the Iranian Nuclear Threat
Commentary
In its first 100 days, the Trump administration should convene the United Kingdom (UK), France, and Germany—the E3—to coordinate a strategy for dealing with Iran’s nuclear pro...
By Jonathan Lord
