‘Iran scenario’ at Israel, US, Greece naval exercise
Annual ‘Noble Dina’ joint maneuvers, replacing Israeli-Turkish drill, also feature simulations of submarine warfare
Gavriel Fiske is a reporter at The Times of Israel
Israel, Greece and the US began a naval exercise in the waters off the island of Crete on Tuesday.
The exercise, “Noble Dina,” is now in its fourth year and replaced an annual Israeli-Turkish joint maneuver which was canceled when relations soured between Jerusalem and Ankara.
Noble Dina, which is to last more than a week, features extensive drills involving naval and air forces of the three countries, including simulations of submarine warfare and search and rescue operations.
According to an IDF source cited by Walla News, the exercise will also feature a simulation of an “Iranian scenario” which includes practicing defending Israeli ports from attack, and implementing a “swarm” tactic where a large vessel is overcome by many smaller boats.
The US conducted similar exercises with Turkey and Israel from 1998 to 2009, but these were canceled after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suspended military cooperation with Israel in 2010 on the heels of the Mavi Marmara flotilla raid in May of that year.
Since then Israel has entered deeper military and economic ties with Turkish rivals Greece and Cyprus.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
