In face of rising tensions with Iran, Israel will participate - for the first time - in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) multinational naval exercise led by the US 3rd fleet off of the coast of Hawaii and Southern California later this month.
RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime exercise, will be be held
from June 27 to August 2nd and will see the participation of 26 nations, 47
surface ships, five submarines, 18 national land forces, and more than 200
aircraft and 25,000 personnel.
"As part of the efforts to maintain its competence and develop its
capabilities, the Navy takes part in international exercises regularly. In the
coming weeks, Israel's naval arm is expected to participate in the RIMPAC
exercise, one of the largest exercises in the field of naval warfare,” read a
statement provided to The Jerusalem Post by the IDF
Spokesperson’s Unit.
With the theme of RIMPAC 2018 being “Capable Adaptive Partners,” the drill will
work to increase multi-national cooperation and trust as well as enhance
interoperability of troops.
Israel will be joining other first-time participants Brazil, Sri Lanka and
Vietnam.
Other countries participating in RIMPAC 2018 are Australia, Brunei, Canada,
Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, Tonga and the United Kingdom.
China was uninvited from participating due to its ongoing militarization of the
disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
According to the US Navy RIMPAC will focus on a wide range of capabilities
“critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's
oceans” with drills ranging from disaster relief to counter-piracy, mine
clearance operations, air defense exercises to complex maritime warfare.
“Participating nations and forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities
and demonstrate the inherent flexibility of maritime forces,” read a statement
released by the US 3rd fleet.
“These capabilities range from disaster relief and maritime security operations
to sea control and complex warfighting. The relevant, realistic training
program includes amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and
air defense exercises, as well as counter-piracy operations, mine clearance
operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations.”
The combined live field training exercise will included tactical level and
limited operational level training and will feature live firing of a Long Range
Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) from a US Air Force aircraft, surface to ship
missiles by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and a Naval Strike Missile
(NSM) from a launcher on the back of a Palletized Load System (PLS) by the US
Army.
While Israel’s Navy is relatively small compared to other IDF corps it has a
significant amount of territory to protect since the expansion of the country’s
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from 40 miles to 150 miles four years ago.
Israel regularly participates in naval exercises with the United States such as
the trilateral Noble Dina exercise between the US, Israeli and Greek navies as
well as a joint IDF Special Forces and US Marines military exercise in the
Negev Desert dubbed ‘Noble Shirley,’ which involved special units from the
Israeli Air Force, Navy and ground forces.
Israeli Navy’s Salvage and Underwater Missions Unit also held a wide-ranging
two-week drill in Haifa dubbed "Noble Melinda" with its counterparts from the
US and France where the three navies drilled on scenarios involving naval
mines, underwater demolitions and sea-based terror attacks.