US and Israeli Navies Begin Week-Long Joint Drill

The exercise has historically covered maritime security, explosive ordnance disposal, and unmanned systems integration.

Guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson transits the Arabian Gulf on Aug. 27, 2020. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew F. Jackson

A week-long naval exercise by the Israeli Navy and the U.S. Fifth Fleet began on Dec. 7, the Israeli military said.

The exercise, known as Intrinsic Defender, “aims to strengthen strategic and operational cooperation between the two naval forces, and practice responses to various regional threats,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a Dec. 8 post on X.

The IDF stated that the drill, involving dozens of service members from both countries, would continue throughout the week.

The bilateral training began just two days after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy fired ballistic and cruise missiles at simulated targets in the Gulf of Oman during a two-day drill that Tehran said was designed to counter foreign threats, Iranian state media reported on Dec. 5.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps exercise opened in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman on Dec. 4 and included maritime operations involving surface and drone assets.

The drills come amid continuing tensions between Iran and both Israel and the United States. Relations have remained fraught since the June conflict in which Israeli and U.S. strikes targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran responded with missile attacks on Israel, prompting concerns among Western governments about the potential for escalation across the region.

Expanding Naval Coordination

U.S. officials have described Intrinsic Defender as a recurring anchor of naval coordination with Israel. The exercise has historically covered maritime security, explosive ordnance disposal, and unmanned systems integration.

In past years, U.S. officials have highlighted Israel’s operational experience and its increasing integration into regional security networks since its shift into the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility in 2021.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, then the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said on July 30, 2023, during an opening ceremony in Haifa, “Israel is one of our most capable maritime partners, and these exercises further underscore historic military cooperation achieved in recent years.”

He said training and operating together contributed to “regional maritime security and stability.”

During the 2023 iteration, more than 50 U.S. service members conducted engagements with Israeli counterparts on mine countermeasures, underwater construction, global health management, and vessel-boarding procedures.

Scale of Cooperation

The scope of the drill has varied from year to year.

In March 2022, Intrinsic Defender involved more than 300 U.S. personnel and a wide range of assets, including a U.S. Navy explosive-ordnance disposal dive team, a Coast Guard maritime engagement team, and the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole.

The Cole had been operating in the Fifth Fleet region since Jan. 4, 2022, as part of broader maritime security activities across an area of 2.5 million square miles, including the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, and sections of the Indian Ocean.

The region also covers three critical choke points: the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, and the Bab al-Mandeb.

As Israel integrated into CENTCOM, both navies expanded joint patrols in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden, completing 18 bilateral and multilateral exercises in the two years leading up to mid-2023.