The Times of Israel reports: Israel’s submariners were called into action for the outbreak of a simulated war during a surprise drill this week, with the army saying the exercise was intended to transform the oft-ignored undersea force into a more formidable weapon.
The drill, which began Saturday night and ended Thursday, included the Israel Navy’s submarine flotilla, as well as the elite Shayetet 13 unit — comparable to the US Navy SEALs — the IDF’s gunship flotilla, a squadron of patrol boats and Israeli Air Force aircraft, the army said. The military hailed the six-day exercise as the “pinnacle in the process of developing” the submarine flotilla into a more significant fighting force “in the navy and in the IDF, in general.”
“During the exercise an emphasis was put on the central aspects of the [submarine] flotillas in an emergency, including collecting intelligence, working together with other units in the navy and air force, as well as anti-submarine warfare,” the IDF said in a statement about the drill.
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