Israeli naval intel steers air force strike on Iranian fleet in Caspian Sea

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) last week conducted a rare strike against Iranian naval vessels in the Caspian Sea, targeting missile boats, support ships, and patrol craft in a region where Israel had never previously operated.

The targets were identified by a small team from the Israeli Navy’s intelligence directorate, consisting of an officer and three soldiers who had been tracking them over time, Caliber.Az reports per Israeli media.

The vessels carried air defence systems and anti-submarine weapons. According to the IDF, the strike also destroyed a naval command centre used by Iranian forces to manage operations in the Caspian Sea, as well as a shipyard for vessel repair and maintenance.

“We had been working on some of these targets for years, and I didn’t think we would strike them during my service,” said Lt. N., a targeting officer in the Navy’s Iran branch.

While fixed targets such as the shipyard and command centre were already known, locating the vessels at sea proved more complex.

“The static targets were familiar to us. The challenge was finding the Iranian warships,” said Sgt. G., a geospatial intelligence analyst. “We simply scanned the Caspian Sea until we identified them.”

Iranian forces, aware that their vessels were being monitored, ordered them to leave port. “In total, six ships were targeted,” Sgt. G. added. “Four missile boats, a large frigate and a support vessel. The frigate carried attack systems, torpedoes and had a helicopter landing pad. We knew how to identify it and distinguish it from other vessels.”

After initial identification, intelligence teams maintained an “intelligence hold” on the targets, while operational planners determined the optimal timing and munitions for the strike.

On the day of the operation, Sgt. G. confirmed one of the targets from the IAF command centre: “Everyone was looking at me as I spoke through the headset with the pilot above the target. He asked me to confirm. I identified it, gave approval, and he launched. Within minutes, the vessels were destroyed.”

Lt. N. emphasised the importance of distinguishing between civilian and military vessels: “Part of our job is to recognise visual indicators and distinguish between military and civilian vessels, because there are civilian ships at sea. After the strike, we reviewed the intelligence again to verify that the military vessels had been destroyed.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev