The Israeli Navy and the United States 5th Fleet have completed a five-day joint exercise held in the Mediterranean Sea, Haifa Bay, the Nahariya region and the Red Sea, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday.
The drill, dubbed “Intrinsic Defender,” focused on maintaining and strengthening the long-standing cooperation between the two navies, expanding and improve responses to possible maritime threats and promoting joint operational learning, the IDF said.
“Throughout the exercise, operational capabilities were integrated, and new technological capabilities were established, to broaden the IDF’s operational options,” the statement continued.
A variety of scenarios were drilled, including sabotage and mine neutralization, responses to maritime intrusion threats, diving and search operations, ship-boarding operations and medical drills.
As part of the exercise, the U.S. Navy’s P-8 Poseidon patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and the Israeli Navy Sa’ar 5-class corvettes practiced creating a shared air-maritime situational assessment.
The IDF noted that repeated exercises and patrols with the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Red Sea “and areas further south” highlight the strategic alliance under U.S. Central Command, describing the partnership as a central element of maritime security and stability across the Middle East.
In March, the Israeli and U.S. Air Forces conducted a joint exercise over the Mediterranean, in their first collaboration on that scale in two years.
The Israeli military published details of the drill, along with images and video footage. As part of the exercise, Israeli F-35I and F-15I aircraft conducted a joint flight with an American B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber.
The drill came three months before Israel’s 12-day war (“Operation Rising Lion”) against the Iran, during which seven U.S. B-2 bombers targeted Iranian nuclear sites, inflicting damage at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
