The “Eager Lion” exercise commenced Sunday in Jordan, marking the start of one of the region’s most significant joint military exercises. This event, featuring participants from 33 countries, focuses on addressing contemporary and transnational threats.
Spanning from 12-23 May 2024, the exercise encompasses various locations across Jordan, including northern, central, and southern regions.
At a press conference held at the King Abdullah II Center for Special Operations Training, Brigadier Mustafa Hiyari, Director of Military Information, highlighted the critical nature of the Eager Lion exercise.
He noted the involvement of land, sea, and air forces from the participating nations, along with multiple national governmental and non-governmental organizations, including ministries, security services, and humanitarian groups, Petra news agency reported.
Hiyari elaborated that the exercise aims to foster a unified approach among the allies towards emerging threats such as terrorism, the proliferation of drone technology, and weapons of mass destruction including biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons along with their delivery mechanisms.
The strategic objectives of the exercise include enhancing the combat readiness and response capabilities of the Jordanian Armed Forces and allied military forces, as well as improving coordination among intelligence, media, and information agencies.
On an operational level, the exercise focuses on synchronizing the military operations planning processes, targeting, management, logistical support, and responses to natural disasters and pandemics of the participating countries.
At the tactical level, General Hiyari pointed out that the training is designed to develop individual and collective human resource capabilities, particularly in handling weapons of mass destruction incidents, humanitarian crises, explosives management, and search and inspection operations.
He emphasized that the Jordanian Armed Forces continually strive to evolve their military doctrine and strengthen international partnerships to tackle new threats and enhance both national and collective security. He noted that regional and global security are interconnected with the security of the Kingdom.
This year marks the eleventh iteration of the exercise, which is encapsulated in its slogan. The slogan highlights the centrality of human security in defense strategies and the importance of partnership and innovation in addressing modern, cross-border challenges. (Petra; Photo: Units from the Saudi Armed Forces at Eager Lion 2024 © SPA)
