"... secure enough to wipe off the map any fantasy-league roster of neighboring Islamic regimes you care to name"

Danger Room, here

"...... This week, the United States and Israel kicked off a major air-defense exercise that will test scenarios including coordinated missile barrages launched from Iran or from Syria, as well as shorter-range rocket attacks by Hezbollah or Hamas. The exercise, Juniper Cobra, is part of a series of biannual war games that dates back to 2001, but it’s worth watching closely for several reasons.

First, there’s politics. Brig. Gen. Doron Gavish, commander of the Israel Air Force’s Air Defense Division, said in a press conference that the exercise was not related to Iran’s continued missile tests and enrichment of nuclear fuel. “It is a carefully designed exercise that has been taking place for years.” But Ha’aretz describes the drill as “preparation for a faceoff with Iran.”

Case in point: Juniper Cobra includes a major civil-defense exercise that will test readiness against a catastrophic missile strike against an Israeli city. As part of the contingent of 1,000 U.S. troops taking part in the exercise, the Ohio Army National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force will take part; the Guardsmen have been training with the Israeli Home Front Command as part of the exercise.

Some of the Obama administration’s favored missile-stoppers will also be deployed for the  exercise, including the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the Navy’s Standard Missile-3(SM-3), part of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense. .......

......... the exercise looks to be a pre-test of Iron Dome, a system being developed to provide defense against the short-range rockets like those fired by Hezbollah at northern Israel during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war or the Qassams fired by Hamas from Gaza. While not fully operational, Iron Dome is also supposed to be integrated into the drill.

Writing at Esquire, Tom Barnett teases out the implications for Israel. ........“Not only will Israel remain on the map following a potential first strike, it’ll have second-strike capabilities secure enough to wipe off the map any fantasy-league roster of neighboring Islamic regimes you care to name.”