Israel's navy is contributing on all fronts in the current war, such as hammering Hezbollah so that the air force can focus more on the Islamic Republic, according to the IDF.
Meanwhile, the IDF has also said that naval intelligence has assisted in recent days with assassinating Iranian Naval Chief Alireza Tangsiri, with eliminating key Iranian naval cruise missile production sites, and Iranian sites related to submarines and other underwater threats.
All of these actions can indirectly reduce Iran's capability to threaten the Straits of Hormuz, the Islamic regime's current most powerful pressure point on the US, the West, Arab countries, and a wide array of other countries.
More specifically, in recent days, the IAF, acting on information from the Naval Intelligence Division and the Military Intelligence Directorate, struck two key naval cruise-missile production sites in Tehran.
The targeted sites operated under the command of the Iranian Defense Ministry and were used by the regime to develop and manufacture long-range naval cruise missiles, which are capable of rapidly destroying targets at sea and on land.
Such weapons could be used against the US and other allies seeking to open the Strait of Hormuz.
These were significant strikes that caused extensive damage to the cruise-missile array and represent another step in deepening the damage done to the regime’s military production infrastructure.
Israel strikes submarine development center in Isfahan
In another operation, acting on information from the Naval Intelligence Division, the IAF attacked a research and development center in Isfahan for underwater threats.
The center was the sole facility in Iran for developing submarines and special systems for the navy, including unmanned naval vessels.
This attack heavily limited Iran’s potential capability to build more advanced submarines or even to maintain existing ships.
Multiplying IDF attack capacity against Hezbollah
Besides operations in Iran, the Israel Navy, especially its missile boats, are multiplying the IDF’s attack capacity against Hezbollah to free up the IAF to focus its full power against Iran, the IDF has told The Jerusalem Post.
The navy has directed massive and precise fire on specific targets as part of a variety of general goals, IDF sources said, although they could not discuss specific capabilities.
Furthermore, the navy said it has assassinated top Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers, including in Beirut, and the top Hamas commander in Tripoli. In addition, it has attacked their command centers, training camps, and weapons depots.
Other dimensions of the navy’s power in Lebanon have been helping defend the border and augmenting the power of the ground forces in southern Lebanon.
Moreover, the navy said it has been protecting natural-gas platforms, which have national strategic value.
The navy is part of Israel’s multilayered defense against aerial threats, working with the IAF to defend against drones and ballistic missiles.
With economies across the globe already crunched by the war, the navy is also ensuring the security of commercial shipping to and from Israel’s coasts, maintaining a variety of critical supply chains.
Advantages of utilizing navy during Operation Roaring Lion
There are also specific advantages that the navy has over the air force during the current war.
For example, the navy said it does not need to travel to and from an airport constantly, where it can be static and vulnerable like aircraft are.
Rather, the navy can remain at sea, continuing to maneuver and with a readiness at any moment, on very short notice, to open fire at Israeli adversaries.
Naval missile boats were also involved in recent years in rapid precision strikes against Hamas in Gaza.
The navy said there is now a set process in which headquarters reviews who can deliver the right amount of firepower in the most useful time window, and if that is the navy, then it can intervene on almost any critical front.
On defense, naval vessels have a variety of systems, each of which could be parallel to the Iron Dome.
The navy also said it was proud that increasing more women are filling its ranks, including as senior officers.