Articles and More!: Destroyers Threaten Eastern Mediterranean Gas Fields

Destroyers Threaten Eastern Mediterranean Gas Fields
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Commenting on breaking news is tricky, especially when one of the sides involved had refused to deliver an official statement. Doing that one day after the initial publishing but three or four years before the delivery of the purchased goods is an attempt to mock Shiva, the Destroyer. The result would almost for certain to be put in the “Read in Four Years” folder.

German Obsolete Destroyer
The German Fleet at War, 1939-1945

This is true unless that the data provided by the only side having acknowledged the deal is so scarce that it promotes some independent investigation which provides new insights in a developing battlefield.

That is what happened to me on December 8, 2013, one day after the German Bild announced that Israel will buy two German destroyers for €1 billion ($ 1.3 billion). Bild reported that Yossi Cohen, Head of Israel’s National Security Council, visited Berlin last week on issues related to the event.

The news was quoted by Israeli media which approached the government on the issue. Answer was declined on the grounds that it is still being analyzed by the Security Cabinet. In other words: “This is true but we cannot comment until the purchasing decision is taken.”

Destroyers in the Israeli Navy

Surveying the Israeli Navy is a pleasure due to the shortness of the task. It is not only a tiny fleet, the IDF Reorganization Plan Teuza 2013-2014 will hit some of its oldest vessels. The destroyers’ front is even simpler since Israel possesses none.

Respecting my readers’ time, I will stick to the very top of the navy’s commanding structure on sea. This is achieved by what in the IDF is known as “Hapak” Ships, literally “Command Room” ships, and in most armies is known as “flaghsip.” For this task, the IDF uses ships of type Corvette. These are maneuverable, small, lightly armed warships, weighting between 500 and 2,000 tons, used in most navies as patrol and convoy ships.

The entire fleet of the Israeli Navy flagships appears in the large image below. It includes three ships, namely INS Eilat, INS Lahav, and INS Hanit. They are of type Sa’ar 5, built in the USA by Northrop Grumman. In their class, they are medium sized, with a full load weight of almost 1,300 tons. 10 Additional corvettes of older and lighter types are still active.

In military terms, they are inadequate for a serious maritime theater. This was shown in the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, when INS Hanit (Spear) was hit by an Iranian version of a Chinese C-802 missile launched by Hezbollah when the ship attempted to siege Beirut. The ship landing pad was hit, and the vessel barely managed to return to port.

Destroyers were originally called Torpedo Boat Destroyers in the 1890s, hinting at their being armed with weapons capable of destroying other ships. They are fast, maneuverable and are used to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group, defending them against smaller, powerful, short-range ships. They are larger than corvettes, reaching almost 10,000 tons.

Until now, this was far beyond the Israeli league of sea-toys.

IDF Fleet of Sa’ar 5 Flaghips

Related: Israeli Navy Strategic Shift

The Eastern Mediterranean Gas Fields

Since 2009, vast quantities of natural gas had been discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Fields. Most of them had been claimed by Israel, which is already developing them with the help of South Korea and the USA. The latter will profit from the revenues, having secured a percentage of all Israeli mining.

Yet, as regularly reported, also Lebanon, Cyprus, Northern Cyprus and Turkey are active in the game directly, with Greece, Azerbaijan and Iran as secondary players. Lebanon has a maritime border dispute with Israel and has already announced that the ownership of certain fields would be a casus belli event.

According to the data known in 2013, Israel claims to have at least 950 billion cubic meters of gas beneath adjacent waters, enough for domestic use during decades while exporting most of it. Attacking the South Korean drilling platforms and the pipes connecting them with the shore is easy and could have devastating economic consequences. Thus, Israel needs now destroyers; corvettes are not sturdy enough for the new task.

Helmut^* the Destroyer

Openly, in a decades long process, Israel is shifting its naval dependence from British and American vessels during its first years to German ones while naval commando techniques and technologies are Italian.

The most dramatic sign of the shift is the state of the art submarines provided by Germany in recent years. This plan started in the eighties, with the original aim giving Israel a second-strike nuclear option with the help of a fleet of conventional submarines.

By the end of 2013, five are already active with a sixth being constructed. Another three will be added until the end of the decade. Using the methods described in Six Million Ships, Israel can hit almost every city of over 1 million denizens on the planet. Urumqi, China, is the only exception I found.

Tamar Platform, Eastern Mediterranean
The German Navy at War The U-Boat

Israel is already engaged in a nuclear weapons-capable submarines race with Pakistan (Germany Creates New Nuclear Front in the Middle East).

If approved by the Israeli government, the new deal will mark a strategic shift in the navy, which is increasingly relying on Germany. A related point that was not disclosed is what type of destroyer will be supplied.

Surveying the German Navy destroyers is as easy as with the IDF. Type 103 Lütjens class was the last class of destroyers in service. Decommissioned in 2003, it was replaced by larger frigates.

Industry doesn’t work in a vacuum. It is safe to assume that the German shipyards will use their old destroyer plans as a base for the Israeli order. In other words, Israel is likely to order destroyers weighing well over 4,000 tons, almost four times larger than their actual flagships. This is an offensive move. War is in the air. Sorry, in the sea.

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Special Notice – Persecuted by Israel, Maimed by Bolivia

Under the leadership of Mr. Evo Morales, recipient of the 2006 Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights, I have been declared a Political Prisoner of Bolivia. My situation is acute, Western Human Rights organizations care not about those speaking against Israel, they do not care about those suffering under the violent hands of one of the main suppliers of “special sugar” to the West.
I attach here the bulk of a recent letter I sent to my lawyers, Despite their good will and astounding experience they failed to save my life. I am being punished illegitimately by beasts. I will keep publishing for as much as I can, but I am unlikely to survive here. Here is the text:

I apologize for this obviously incomplete email, the reason for my withholding much of what is relevant will become obvious.
I have been violated in several occasions by the Bolivian Government. The technique was constant. I was gassed unconscious in my room (both in the church and the guesthouses) and they entered the room and committed crimes.
It has stopped since I have solved the gassing attempts, and started to secure my room upon entrance. Next time they try it will mean my death. They know that.
One of the violations consisted in the introduction of magnetic-operated electrodes in my mouth. Breaking gums, nerves and filling with my bare fingers I had pulled them out. I can’t stand the pain anymore. Visiting dentists here is impossible; in no way can I secure the event.
Other tortures include low-voltage electrocution through my bed and shoes. I have solved this.
I have no access to safe water and food.
These are not Bolivian technologies. The last item invented by the people inhabiting the area was dehydrated potatoes. They never developed writing. They just copy from others.
Other tortures and constant pressure form my days here. Yet, I have published every day, unless facing urging administrative issues with the site, mainly fixing attacks on it.
I can’t withstand it any more. My mouth is an open wound. My throat has not healed from the Bolivian Government attack on 2009. My nose and hears are being torn apart. I can’t be more detailed over the web.
A few months from now, my American ATM card will expire. Afterwards, I will be on the streets and probably dead within a few hours.

^* “Helmut” is a nickname given to IDF soldiers who are considered clumsy. The soldier who always places the rubber band holding his trousers lower end on the shoe, instead than on the leg just above the shoe. The derogatory term is not aimed to Germans, despite it being a German name. It is derived from “helem” (shock); the German name just gave it legitimacy as a name.

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