Israeli navy prepares for new upgraded warships amid Hezbollah threat

The vessels will be used by Israel to defend its natural gasfields in the Mediterranean from Hezbollah

An Israeli soldier on board the Israeli naval ship 'Lahav' during a tour of Israel's offshore Leviathan gasfield in the Mediterranean. AP

After a coronavirus-related delay, Israel's navy is preparing for the arrival of its next generation of missile boats – giving it a powerful new tool to defend its natural gas industry from the threat posed by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The first missile boat of Project Magen is scheduled to arrive by early December, with three more of the German-made corvettes to arrive in the next two years.

“It’s bigger. It’s newer. It’s faster. It’s better,” said Rear Adm Eyal Harel, head of Israeli naval operations, during a rare tour of Israel’s offshore Leviathan gasfield.

The vessels, commonly known as Saar 6 corvettes, will be at the forefront of Israeli efforts to protect its 370-kilometre exclusive economic zone.

The natural gas industry is at the heart of those efforts.

More than a decade after finding sizeable reserves off its Mediterranean coast, Israel now generates about 60 per cent of its electricity from natural gas, according to the national electric company, and has begun to export gas to Jordan and Egypt.

Israel is also pursuing a project with Greece and Cyprus in hopes of creating an Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline to Europe.

An Israeli military submarine sails past cargo ships in the Mediterranean Sea, Israel. After a coronavirus-related delay, Israel's navy is preparing for the long-awaited arrival of its next generation of missile boats - giving it a powerful new tool to defend its strategic natural gas industry from the threat of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. AP

With so much at stake, Iran-backed Hezbollah has identified Israeli gas installations as high-priority targets.

In a 2018 speech, the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said he could destroy Israeli gas assets “within a few hours” if there was an order to do so.

Israel takes such threats seriously. During a month-long war in 2006, a Hezbollah missile strike on an Israeli Saar 5 warship killed four soldiers.

Lt Col Eitan Paz, a flotilla commander, said the new vessels would bring a welcome upgrade to the Saar 5s, which are about 30 years old.

He said they would be equipped with newer and more powerful radar and other electronic systems.

The ships could handle rough seas much better than their predecessors, he said.

The 90-metre vessels are equipped with rocket and missile defence systems, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and an upgraded launch pad for Israel's newest attack helicopters.

Israel's offshore Leviathan gas field is seen from on board the Israeli Navy Ship Lahav. AP

“Physically, it’s not much bigger than the Saar 5. But it adds all of these systems,” he said.

He said the first boat, the INS Magen was supposed to arrive in August, but delivery was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He said it would be put to sea immediately and reach full operational capacity within several months after it was outfitted with Israeli weapons systems in several phases.

Since the 2006 war, Hezbollah has reatly beefed up its arsenal with about 150,000 rockets and missiles, according to Israeli estimates.

Israel accuses the group of trying to develop precision-guided missiles, which would make that arsenal far more lethal.

Rear Adm Harel said the navy’s main concerns are Chinese-made C-802 missiles, such as the one that hit the Israeli ship in 2006, and Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship missiles possessed by Hezbollah’s ally Syria.

But he said the military learnt lessons from that war.

“We are prepared and we will be even more prepared when we have the new battleships,” he said.

Israel agreed to buy the vessels in a 2015 deal valued at roughly €430 million ($480m at the time), with the German government covering about a quarter of the cost.

Several Israeli businessmen, including a former commander of the navy and confidants of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are suspects in a graft scandal connected to the purchase of the warships and submarines from German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp.

Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial in three other corruption cases, was not named as a suspect in the scandal and no one active in the Israeli navy was connected.