Greek-Israeli-US naval exercise in area of major energy interest

A trilateral naval exercise between the Greek, Israeli and American navies, dubbed Noble Dina, is planned to begin later this month with nearly a dozen surface ships, submarines and related air assets to engage in joint reconnaissance, counterterror and antisubmarine warfare training.

The exercise will be staged in an area that has produced major hydrocarbon discoveries in recent times and already led to major investments. Two major energy infrastructure projects of Greek interest, the East Med gas pipeline, to link Greece, Israel and Cyprus all the way to the Italian coast, and the Eurasia Interconnector, planned to link the Greek, Cypriot and Israeli power grids, will be developed in a wider area to serve as part of the arena for the upcoming naval exercise.

Cyprus will participate as an observer in the three-way drill, which is staged annually. It begins in Greece and will conclude in mid-April at the Israeli Navy headquarters in Haifa.

“It’s one of our most important exercises that allows us to hone our proficiencies in very complex scenarios,” Commander Assaf Boneh, the head of international cooperation for the Israeli sea service, told Defense News. “We’ll be training in a vast area from Greece to Israel, and this gives us a lot of room to practice multiple scenarios that require jointness.”