The United States is bolstering its military presence in the Middle East by deploying the USS Georgia, a guided missile submarine, to the region amid rising tensions. The move comes as part of a broader effort to reinforce US support for Israel and deter aggression from Iran and its proxies.

In a call with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the deployment of the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) to the Central Command area. The submarine's arrival will complement the capabilities of two carrier strike groups already en route to the region.

"Secretary Austin reiterated the United States' commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of US military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions'" a readout by the US Department of Defense said.

The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, has been ordered to accelerate its transit to the Central Command area. The group will join the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, which is already present in the region.

During their conversation, Austin and Gallant discussed Israel's ongoing anti-terrorism operations in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing the importance of minimizing harm to civilians. They also reviewed progress toward securing a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held by the Hamas terror organization.

The two defense leaders addressed efforts to deter aggression by Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and other Iran-aligned groups across the region. The discussion occurred at a time of heightened concern over the potential for wider conflict in the Middle East, as per the readout.

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The cabinet approved Sunday the launch of a state investigation into an affair involving the purchase of submarines and other warships from Germany, a case that has embroiled close confidants of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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The alleged graft surrounds a possible conflict of interest and bribery involving a $2 billion purchase of naval vessels from Germany's Thyssenkrupp that implicated some of Netanyahu's closest associates. The former prime minister was questioned, but not named as a suspect, in the scandal, referred to in Hebrew as " Case 3000."

The cabinet authorized establishing a state investigation into the case by vote. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett abstained.

"The processes for defense acquisitions in this government are clean of outside considerations," Bennett said at the start of Sunday's Cabinet meeting. "Our sole consideration is the security of Israel."

The state commission of inquiry has sweeping authority to investigate and summon witnesses, and its recommendations typically guide government policy.

Nitzan Horowitz, Israel's health minister and a Cabinet member, said the government investigation "is a critical step in the fight against corruption and is essential for the defense establishment."

The approval of a state investigation came more than a year after Defense Minister Benny Gantz authorized a probe into Netanyahu's role in the affair.

Gantz said on Twitter after the vote that launching the investigation is of "the highest security need, and a clear message that you cannot play with Israel's defense."

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak on Sunday called the matter "the most serious corruption scandal in Israel's history." Anti-Netanyahu protesters who demonstrated outside his Jerusalem residence until his ouster from office last year had called for an investigation into his role in the submarine scandal.

Netanyahu is currently on trial in three other corruption cases and has denied any wrongdoing. He served as prime minister from 2009 until last year, when he was unseated by a coalition of his opponents following a fourth parliamentary election in two years. He now serves as leader of the opposition in the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

Last week Israel signed an agreement with Germany to purchase three top-of-line submarines from Thyssenkrupp for three billion euros ($3.4 billion) to replace older ships retiring at the end of the decade. The Defense Ministry said they were not part of the state investigation.

Netanyahu's Likud party responded to the announcement, saying the investigation should look into "how all those who for years opposed buying three more submarines suddenly approved the purchase," and dismissed the allegations of wrongdoing as "idle political claims."

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Rescue teams from several countries were battling against time on Friday to find a missing Indonesian Navy submarine lost in the Bali Sea with 53 crew, which would be rapidly running out of oxygen if not already crushed by water pressure.

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Search helicopters and more navy ships left Bali and a naval base in Java at first light heading to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill.

"The main priority is the safety of the 53 crew members," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said late on Thursday.

Indonesia's navy said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 meters, well beyond its survivable limits.

If the submarine was still intact, officials said it would only have enough air to last about another 15 hours until early Saturday morning.

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Iran fired cruise missiles Thursday as part of a naval drill in the Gulf of Oman, state media reported, under surveillance of what appeared to be a US nuclear submarine dispatched to the region amid heightened tensions between the countries.

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Helicopter footage of the exercise released by Iran's navy showed what resembled an Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, the USS Georgia, which the US Navy last month said had been sent to the Persian Gulf – a rare announcement aimed at underscoring American military might in the region.

Iran's navy did not identify the submarine but warned the boat to steer clear of the area, where missiles were being launched from land units and ships in the gulf and the northern part of the Indian Ocean. When asked for comment on the reported submarine sighting, Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the US Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, responded: "We don't talk about submarine operations."

Footage of the reported "foreign submarine" that entered the #Iran|ian Navy's exercise area earlier today.

Cc @CovertShores and other sub folks. pic.twitter.com/167H8r7ap4

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) January 14, 2021

Later Thursday, Iran's state-run media claimed that a "foreign" vessel had "intended to approach the naval drill" and departed soon after the Iranian Navy's warning, without elaborating.

The two-day drill began on Wednesday with the unveiling of the largest vessel in the Iranian Navy, the latest in a series of Iranian military exercises during the waning days of the administration of US President Donald Trump. Over the weekend, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps held a naval parade in the Persian Gulf shortly after seizing a South Korean tanker in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Last week, Iran deployed unmanned aircraft to stage a large-scale drone maneuver across half the country.

Iran's state TV broadcast footage of the missile launches on Thursday but didn't provide their range or other details. In July, Iran said it test-fired cruise missiles with a range of some 280 kilometers (some 275 miles).

"Enemies should know that any violation and invasion of Iranian marine borders will be targeted by the cruise missiles from both coast and sea," said Adm. Hamzeh Ali Kaviani, the spokesman for Thursdays' exercise.

Tensions are rising as Iran ramps up pressure on the West over the Trump administration's sanctions campaign against the Islamic republic.

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Most details of the case, including the names of the suspects, were unavailable because of a gag order.

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But a statement by the ministry said public servants working in the unnamed defense body allegedly received millions in bribes from companies with the aim of promoting sales deals with Israel's defense establishment.

The suspects are to be charged with bribery, fraud, breach of trust and money laundering, among others offenses, pending a hearing.

The announcement comes after the ministry said last week it would serve indictments for corruption charges in a $2 billion German submarine deal that roped in close associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the country's former navy chief.

The Justice Ministry claims those accused in the submarine case personally benefited from the purchase.

Netanyahu was questioned, but not named as a suspect, in the submarine probe, known as "Case 3,000." But it sparked questions about his earnings on a related German submarine sale to Egypt.

Netanyahu has been indicted in three other graft cases for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. He has denied wrongdoing on all charges.

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Dubbed "Case 3,000," the scandal centers on a possible conflict ‎of ‎interest surrounding the 2 billion euro procurement ‎of ‎ ‎submarines and naval vessels ‎from ‎German ‎conglomerate ‎ThyssenKrupp in 2016‎.

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In a statement, the Justice Ministry said prosecutors accepted recommendations police made last year on the indictments in the case.

Netanyahu was questioned, but not named as a suspect, in the submarine probe.

The suspects in Case 3,000 include Netanyahu's attorney ‎and ‎cousin David Shimron, former National Security Council Deputy ‎Director ‎Avriel Bar-Yosef, Israeli businessman Miki Ganor, who ‎was ‎the German company's representative in Israel, former Israeli ‎Navy Commander Vice Adm. ‎‎(ret.) Eliezer Marom, Shay Brosh, former commander of the navy's elite Shayetet 13 commando unit, and David Sharan, who ‎served as the prime minister's bureau chief between late 2014 and ‎mid-2016. ‎

Pending pre-trial hearings, Shimron will be charged with money laundering. Sharan, Marom and Ganor will face that charge as well as bribery, the ministry said.

Netanyahu, who was in Lisbon on a state visit, had no comment on the indictments.

Thyssenkrupp has said an internal probe found no evidence of corruption in its handling of the 2016 contract for the sale of three submarines to Israel, and Israeli prosecutors have taken no action against the conglomerate.

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A submarine is the most expensive platform that Israel can buy, and the Israel Defense Forces is about to expand its fleet to six German-made Dolphin platforms – half of them new-generation vehicles that can stay submerged for longer.

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These vessels, bristling with advanced technology, can covertly gather intelligence on enemy activities, approach distant coastlines and strike targets with precision missiles, while remaining out of the reach of the enemy's missiles and rockets. According to international media reports, they are a key aspect of Israel's nuclear deterrent and second-strike capability.

Yet training the sailors who will serve onboard the secretive vessels is as vital for mission success as any of the submarine's technological capabilities.

"When we returned to dock after some sort of operation and read all kinds of headlines, we understood that there is great significance in what we did," 1st Lt. I. (full name withheld), a commander of a navy submarine course, told JNS.

He served onboard a Dolphin submarine for a year and eight months after being drafted in 2013. He then chose to attend a naval officer's course to join the training personnel.

The submarine training course is divided into two stages: A basic stage and a mission specialty stage. 1st Lt. I. initially commanded a team within the basic-stage course before going on to command the whole basic stage. He has overseen five training cycles so far, sending "generations" of sailors into the sea's depths, where they conduct critical missions, the vast majority of which will never be known to the public.

"The basic stage is the physically challenging part," the officer said. "There are many marches and a series of tests to determine if the cadets are suitable for becoming submarine personnel. We check character traits, the ability to work in teams and the ability to work in a high-pressure environment."

Only half of the cadets successfully complete the grueling basic stage. Some volunteer to leave after concluding that they are not suitable for this type of service, while others are told by course instructors that they will best realize their skills in other parts of the military.

Six months later, the remaining cadets split up into five specialty areas: technicians, machine operators, electricians, sonar and communications, and weapons operators.

"The second phase is also a challenge," said 1st Lt. I. At the end of the course, the cadets graduate and split up again into their operations teams onboard the submarines.

"They have to continue training in the submarines on their own after a year and a month of acquiring tools and knowledge. They have to serve with people of different ages and roles, and not necessarily from their own course," said the commander.

"The two stages of the course prepare them for life in a submarine. The course is filled with uncertainty. They don't know how long their [simulated] missions will be. They don't know what will happen in 10 minutes. We take away their phones on base. In a submarine, no one knows what will happen in 30 minutes, and the course reenacts that environment," explained the officer.

High-pressure situations are also re-enacted, in which cadets must complete tactical or technical tasks. "We get them used to dealing with this kind of pressure with the help of simulators that generate the pressure levels," he added.

"Those who've never been in a submarine can think it is a small crowded place, but slowly, one learns to master this environment. I can tell you that one of the reasons I became a commander in the course is the sense – and it is hard to accurately describe it – of satisfaction in seeing the next generation of fighters deploy," said the commander.

He described how submarine personnel must remain silent about their missions when they return home for breaks, even as they hear their friends openly share their military stories and experiences.

"You can't talk about what you did, though the operations can influence things in all sorts of places. It is a little hard to transmit this to 18-year-olds, but in the end, this is what they understand," he said. "They gain great satisfaction in what they do, even if it's not totally clear to them at that very moment."

The lieutenant noted that Israel is continuing to buy submarines, even though each one is worth "tens, if not hundreds, of tanks and tens of planes. In the end, it is a vessel with very unique capabilities compared to others in the military. The defense leadership has in recent years understood their significance, and they are purchasing more of these, while improving existing submarines. And the ambiguity around this issue is there for a reason. We want to keep our cards close to our chest. Not many units can bring these cards."

'Teamwork is a central part of this experience'

Pvt. A., a naval cadet who is currently in the basic stage of the training course, told JNS about the experience of entering such a secretive and singular military world.

"In this course, one does not really know where he will end up, and this is the whole idea. It is not very well-known, and this is deliberate. It's about entering the unknown and climbing up from there," he said.

He described a highly demanding training period that presents a battery of physical as well as mental theoretical tests. "There is a very strong combination between the two. One minute we are in a lesson, the next we are in training," he said. "Teamwork is a central part of this experience. It is emphasized in every aspect. We have to work closely in teams, so that we can sail optimally later on."

The stress on teamwork even finds expression in the dining hall, where cadets can only begin to eat after everyone has received food. During training missions, even if the task is not fully completed on time, the commander is most interested in "whether we worked as a team. This is the main thing," said Pvt. A. "He wants to see whether we worked together and not each in his own bubble. This emphasis appears everywhere. Even when we run, the faster ones do not go ahead. We all run together."

Pvt. A. was drawn to the submarine-training course because, he said, he would never get another opportunity to be onboard such a vessel. "This is not a platform one sees anywhere else. Everything we learn here is different but fascinating," he stated. "It is a whole world that opens up – one that most of the world doesn't know about because it's not supposed to deal with it. Every new layer that opens up leaves us wide-eyed."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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