Israel and the United States today commenced what is believed to be their largest ever joint military exercises in missile defense. According to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces, the long-planned, two-week air defense exercise has been dubbed Juniper Cobra 10 and will involve participation of 1,000 personnel from the U.S. European Command and the Israeli military. It is the fifth such exercise since 2001. Among the systems expected to be deployed and tested during the drills are the Arrow and Patriot missiles, along with the Theater High Altitude Area Defense and the naval-deployed Aegis missile defense systems. In a news release about the joint air defense exercises, the Israeli military said the drill is not in response to any world events, but the maneuvers do come at time of increasing tensions amongst the United States and Israel with Iran over its nuclear program.<br/>