The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has deployed the C-130 Hercules Karnaf aircraft to participate in a joint training exercise in Romania.

During the two weeks of intensive training, the IAF Karnaf crews practiced navigating through mountainous terrain and ravines.

An IAF airman that participated in the exercise said, “The Karnaf is unusual in this regard. When you talk about a transport plane, everyone thinks of an El Al Boeing that transports passengers. Those flights are very comfortable and at high altitude, with newspapers and coffee. But the Karnaf was built from the start to be a tactical transport aircraft – a plane that navigates and flies through unfriendly territory carrying fighters.”

This is the first time that IAF has returned to Romania after a Sikorsky CH-53 transport helicopter crashed in Romania during a training mission last year killing six IAF airmen and a Romanian soldier.