Navy to Ask $600 Million for Ships to Secure Gas Rigs

YERUSHALAYIM

The Israel Navy will ask for $600 million for missile carriers to provide security for the nation’s gas drilling stations in the Mediterranean, Globes reported on Monday.

The ships themselves, missile corvettes, cost about $400 million, and systems that will be installed on them will account for another $200 million.

A senior Navy officer says that the plan is due to be presented to the government for approval in a few weeks.

The corvettes were priced after a long process in which the Navy obtained quotes from several foreign shipyards, including in Germany, South Korea, and the United States.

“The new ships are a fantastic answer to our needs to meet the new challenges in the maritime space,” says the officer. “They can be used for routine protection of Israel’s economic interests in the Mediterranean, and when needed, in combat operations. Weexamined how other countries are protecting their maritime interests, and found that they all use this method.”

A Navy expert familiar with the complexities of protecting offshore rigs told Globes, “For the IDF, this is a reasonable demand to respond to a need in a huge region, where interest has grown greatly in recent years.”

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