Israel signs deal to buy 2 nuclear-capable submarines from Germany

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=74985


Israel has signed a contract with Germany to buy two submarines capable of carrying atomic weapons, as world powers carefully weighed Iran's reply to an offer meant to end the standoff over the Islamic Republic's nuclear programs.

The Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post said Wednesday that under the contract signed in July, the two Dolphin-class submarines, called U212s, will be assembled in Germany and fitted with a propulsion system allowing them to remain underwater for far longer than submarines already in use by the Israel Navy.

The report of the sub purchase came a day after a Cabinet minister and former Mossad spy warned that Israel should prepare for a ballistic missile attack by Iran.

The state-of-the-art submarines, manufactured by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG, will be bought by Israel for $1.27 billion, a third of which will be financed by the German government, the English-language daily said.

The U212s are designed for a crew of 35, have a range of 4,500 kilometers and can launch cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads, the paper quoted Jane's Defense Weekly as saying.

[mediaman007]

1. How ungrateful! We are really buying the submarines from Germany

for Israel. Do we have that much money to toss away?

[Solo_in_MD]

7. We dont make diesel subs here anymore

[Hav]

2. Today's news are so great...

My, doesn't the future for our kids looks brighter every day?

[TahitiNut]

3. Well, I suppose they need them to 'defend' Israel

... from the massive naval forces of Syria, Palestine, and Iran. :eyes:

[Fredda Weinberg]

4. It is deterrence to a first strike

Just as the US has bases across the globe, this give Israel a strike-back capability. Scoff if you want, but the threat is growing.

[tocqueville]

6. it's an illusion

a first strike on Israel due to its limited size and concentrated population is a final strike. A religiously fanatic Iran could "afford" to lose half of its population, but still survive.

[Name removed]

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[tocqueville]

5. this gave another reason for the Iranis to go nuclear

and shows that the Israeli projection capability is still limited on that area.

[Solo_in_MD]

8. Usual crapola from a ME rag

By the standards used in this article a Toyota mini pickup is nuclear capable. Then again, it probably sells so who cares.

[nealmhughes]

9. Almost any submarine is "nuclear capable" these days.

All they have to do is retrofit the conventional missiles and add a nuclear warhead.

No, the US and UK no longer build diesel subs, Sweden, Poland and Spain and Germany do. I don't know about France, but I'd wager they do also. Russia, too.

Actually, the US and UK don't build many ships at all any longer, preferring Spain, Poland and South Korea for the merchant fleet with a Panamanian or Liberian flag...