Last year saw spike in deployments for Israel’s
nuclear-capable fleet, which is set to grow by two more vessels this year
The IDF’s submarine flotilla has seen a sharp increase in
the number and duration of its at-sea operations, with a special focus on Israel’s
northern neighbor Lebanon.
According to a senior Israel Navy officer, 58 percent of the
navy’s submarine flotilla’s time at sea in 2013 were in operational
deployments, while the remaining 42% were for training purposes. That marks a
dramatic increase from the three previous years, when submarines spent just 36%
of their time at sea in operational deployments.
The navy’s submarines also conducted 54 special operations
in 2013, a similarly sharp increase from previous years. The operations
included deployments to the Lebanese coast and deployments lasting several
weeks that took the submarines thousands of kilometers from Israel.
The navy’s figures mark a rare revelation on the part of the
IDF that suggests the military has significantly upped its operational presence
to counter threats from Hezbollah and the more distant Iran.
It is also likely a message to the German government, which
is visiting Israel
this week in a delegation led by Chancellor Angela Merkel for high-level talks
with Israeli counterparts.
Israel
buys its top-of-the-line, nuclear warhead-capable (according to foreign
reports) Dolphin submarines from Germany,
and the navy expects two new Dolphin-class subs to be delivered in the second
half of 2014, the INS Tanin and INS Rahav.
The new submarines have engines that don’t require surfacing
to acquire new air supplies, effectively expanding Israel’s
naval (and, reportedly, nuclear) reach and allowing for more distant and
long-lasting operations.
“Last year we carried out thousands of hours of operations
in the submarines,” the commander of the navy’s submarine flotilla, Col.
“G,” said in a briefing Tuesday.
“G” called the new submarines “very technologically
sophisticated vessels that require highly trained and professional crews to
operate them… We operate in different theaters, including the northern theater,
to ensure the security of the State of Israel,” he said.
According to Brig. Gen. Eli Sharvit, commander of the navy’s
Haifa base, the navy’s northern
deployments are intended to protect Israel
from a “highly operational” Syrian navy, which is armed with “strategic
weaponry” and has maintained a powerful presence in the region despite the
civil war raging in the country
