"The navy is ready for war," says a senior officer in the Israeli Navy. He understands well the significance of what he is saying, and stresses that despite the lack of a decision about the billions required to adapt the navy to its new challenges, his sailors can cope well with the new threats in the maritime theater.
One such threat is the Russian Yakhont (SSN-26) advanced shore-to-sea missile, which has been supplied to Syria, and is perceived by the IDF as a game-changer that alters the balance of power, and threatens all Israeli vessels and offshore natural gas fields. Israel's defense establishment fears that amongst all the chaos in Syria and the crumbling of the regime in Damascus, such advanced weapons systems may fall into the hands of extremist Islamic terror groups like Al Qaeda, which is deepening its activities in Syria.
According to several reports in the past, Hezbollah has already got its hands on the Yakhont. The senior officer added, "It doesn't matter how much money we ask for in order to invest in building our deterrent force and buy new weapons and strengthen. We will anyway manage in our mission of protecting and patrolling the high seas and making the coast secure."
He said, There are no small number of new threats entering the arena and they have slightly altered the balance of power. But we are prepared for them in a sophisticated way. All Israel Navy vessels are protected against new threats and our missile boats are protected against the Yakhont."
Deeply engraved in IDF awareness is the strike against the Israeli naval vessel by a Chinese C-802 missile off the coast of Beirut during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The senior officer continued, "That won't happen again. We've learned the lessons. We've taken measures in the field and invested a lot of thought. The missiles are not so complicated and coping with them is not such a great challenge. We have clear responses to this threat. We are conducting trials all the time and testing ourselves to be certain we have responses for threats and scenarios, even above the required threshold."
The IDF's preparedness for new threats in the Eastern Mediterranean include close cooperation with the navy's development arm and Israel's defense industries including Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) that is promoting the Barak 8 surface to air (SAM) missile project that will intercept sea missiles. "The Barak 8 is a good example of our preparedness for future threats," the senior officer said.
Partnership with India
One of the senior partners in the development of the Barak 8 is the Indian army, wihcis jointly funding the project. When it is completed the Indian arm will also be equipped with the new innovative, multi-purpose weapons system. The system will provide an answer to a wide range of threats to vessels and intercept missile fired from shore to sea and even hit aircraft. The new system will soon enter the trials phase and professional sources believe that it will be operational within 18 months to two years.
Expanding threats at sea and the larger number of tasks to be undertaken includes defending the offshore gas rigs, which according to the navy requires about NIS 3 billion to be fully operational. This amount includes purchasing and brining into operation new systems and at least four large naval vessels to protect national interests in Israel's economic waters.
In addition, to new vessels, radar systems, interception and protection weapons, the Israel Navy is interested in unmanned marine vehicles to double its strength. The main system here is the Protector, developed and produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd..
A limited number of these systems are already in operation with the Israel Navy on routine assignments and the results have been good. "The unmanned vessel's work is absolutely reasonable and we are satisfied with it," the senior officer said. It can carry electronic systems and be part of routine operations, assist in naval defense and operate in battle zones and draw fire, thus saving lives. Much thought has been invested in this direction."