Israeli Navy Takes Possession of Fourth Submarine From Germany

The Thursday Israel received the fourth of six ordered Dolphin Class Submarines from the German government. The ship named “Tanin” will be put into operation in 2013. According to a senior Israel Navy officer, the “submarine has a range for everything,”. The sub can go for extended missions without fuel or battery recharges.

A senior Israeli Navy officer told Haaretz,

“This submarine can stay underwater for longer,”

He then talked about how the submarine had “visible and invisible” capabilities and its intended deployment was in the Mediterranean Sea.

Today, in a ceremony in Northern Germany, members of Israel’s Ministry of Defense and the Israeli Defense Forces met with German authorities to inaugurate the ship. A bottle of Champagne was smashed over the front of the ship.

The Israeli Navy intends to use the ship for drills until it activates the ship for active duty in late 2013. The Israeli Navy will be taking shipment of a fifth and sixth submarine from Germany in the near future.

A senior Navy officer told the newspaper,

“The challenges today are much wider, and the submarines are one import aspect of this. The Middle East has changed – including Egypt and Syria, and Lebanon is the same Lebanon – and we must be able to operate in several arenas and on several fronts at the same time.”

According to intelligence sources the submarines are equipped to carry Israeli made cruise missile that have a range of more than 1,500 miles and are capable of carrying a nuclear payload. The same sources say that the subs give Israel a secure “second strike” capability in the advent of a nuclear, chemical or biological attack on Israel itself.