Israel to acquire two more German submarines
Navy already operates three similar submarines, capable of launching cruise missiles with nuclear warheads.
Maariv International
Germany has agreed to sell Israel another two Dolphin-class submarines, They will join the three Dolphin –class submarines already operated by the Israeli navy, making Israel one of the premier maritime powers in the Arabian Sea.
The new pair of submarines, like the first three, will be built at the Kiel-based Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG, the world’s biggest builder of diesel submarines. The new boats are more advanced in that they will able to stay submerged for longer than the first Dolphins. The reported cost for the two craft is
$700 million.
Berlin has overcome its reluctance to the craft being fitted with nuclear cruise missiles, in the interests of a newly adopted more aggressive defense exports policy, and out of understanding that the EU’s attempts to halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program is unlikely to succeed.
Israel already has a major presence in the area. It has a naval and air base at Dahlak, a small island owned by Eritrea just outside the strategic Bab el Mandeb straits, where the Red Sea enters the Arabian Sea. At least one of its three Dolphin submarines is always on patrol in the Arabian Sea.
In May 2000 Israel is reported to have secretly carried out its first test launches from two German-built Dolphin-class submarines of cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. According to foreign military and intelligence sources, the missiles launched from vessels off Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean are said to have hit a target at a range of about 1,500 kilometers. The missiles reportedly carry a 200kg nuclear warhead containing 6kg of plutonium.
Several countries have, or plan to have a powerful and permanent naval presence in the Arabian Sea. The US and British navies maintain a constant presence in the area, from its staging point at the British naval base of Diego Garcia, in the middle of the Arabian Sea.
India, the region’s largest naval power (and the only country apart from the US and UK to operate aircraft carriers), maintains a major naval presence, including submarines and surface craft. Pakistan also has a constant submarine patrol. Although most of its naval forces are aged and obsolete, it recently purchased three France has constructed three Agosta-class subs from France, and is mulling buying two more. These are primarily interceptors, for use against surface ships and other subs, and cannot be used as platforms for cruise or ballistic missiles.
Indian subs of British-Russian manufacture sail keel to keel with Israel subs made in Germany, against Pakistani vessels made in France and Iranian subs made in China.
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Navy already operates three similar submarines, capable of launching cruise missiles with nuclear warheads.
Maariv International
Germany has agreed to sell Israel another two Dolphin-class submarines, They will join the three Dolphin –class submarines already operated by the Israeli navy, making Israel one of the premier maritime powers in the Arabian Sea.
The new pair of submarines, like the first three, will be built at the Kiel-based Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG, the world’s biggest builder of diesel submarines. The new boats are more advanced in that they will able to stay submerged for longer than the first Dolphins. The reported cost for the two craft is
$700 million.
Berlin has overcome its reluctance to the craft being fitted with nuclear cruise missiles, in the interests of a newly adopted more aggressive defense exports policy, and out of understanding that the EU’s attempts to halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program is unlikely to succeed.
Israel already has a major presence in the area. It has a naval and air base at Dahlak, a small island owned by Eritrea just outside the strategic Bab el Mandeb straits, where the Red Sea enters the Arabian Sea. At least one of its three Dolphin submarines is always on patrol in the Arabian Sea.
In May 2000 Israel is reported to have secretly carried out its first test launches from two German-built Dolphin-class submarines of cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. According to foreign military and intelligence sources, the missiles launched from vessels off Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean are said to have hit a target at a range of about 1,500 kilometers. The missiles reportedly carry a 200kg nuclear warhead containing 6kg of plutonium.
Several countries have, or plan to have a powerful and permanent naval presence in the Arabian Sea. The US and British navies maintain a constant presence in the area, from its staging point at the British naval base of Diego Garcia, in the middle of the Arabian Sea.
India, the region’s largest naval power (and the only country apart from the US and UK to operate aircraft carriers), maintains a major naval presence, including submarines and surface craft. Pakistan also has a constant submarine patrol. Although most of its naval forces are aged and obsolete, it recently purchased three France has constructed three Agosta-class subs from France, and is mulling buying two more. These are primarily interceptors, for use against surface ships and other subs, and cannot be used as platforms for cruise or ballistic missiles.
Indian subs of British-Russian manufacture sail keel to keel with Israel subs made in Germany, against Pakistani vessels made in France and Iranian subs made in China.
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