Israel to buy 2 German Dolphin submarines

Two weeks ago I read in a german Newspaper that Israel only secured an option for a 3rd Dolphin.

I heard from a good [german] source that the number of Dolphin II’s will be increased to 3.

Germany pays €170m advance on submarines for Israel

The payment will be transferred to HDW shipyards in Baltic port of Kiel in a few days.

Amnon Barzilai 18 Jul 06 19:23

The German government will pay a €170 million advance payment to begin construction of two Dolphin II class submarines for the Israel Navy. The payment will be transferred to Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) shipyards in the Baltic port of Kiel in a few days.

When the advance is paid, the agreement between the Israeli and German governments for construction of the two submarines for €2 billion will come into effect. Under the agreement, Germany will finance one-third of the deal, and Israel will pay the rest over a ten-year period. This means that half the amount will be paid to Germany long after the submarines enter service. The first submarine will be delivered in six years, and the second a year later.

The two Dolphin II class submarines are improved versions of the three Dolphin I class submarines, which are already in service with the Israel Navy. The Dolphin II is ten meters longer and 500 tons heavier than the Dolphin I, and will displace 2,000 tons. The changes are designed to extend consider the length of time the Dolphin II can stay underwater.

The Dolphin II’s armament will include long-range missiles. Reports in the foreign press, which have not been confirmed by Israel, claim that the Israel Navy’s submarines are part of Israel’s strategic array, and, if necessary, can deliver a pre-emptive strike in the event of a threatened nuclear attack on Israel.

In the late 1990s, the Israel Navy put in service three Dolphin I submarines, which HDW built over the preceding decade. However, the Navy concluded that, on the basis of threat scenarios and outlines of a future war, it needed two more submarines. The decision was based on the working assumption that at least one submarine would always be undergoing maintenance and repair, while the others would defend the country’s seaboard from Syria in the north to Egypt in the south.

Three years ago, the Ministry of Defense entered into negotiations with Germany’s Ministry of Defense to examine the possibility of building two more submarines. The main clauses in the agreement were completed a few months ago. The two countries agreed, among other things, that all the submarines’ combat and combat support systems considered force multipliers would be built by Israeli defense contractors. The cost of the Israeli-built systems will amount to 15-20% of the submarines’ total cost.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes.co.il – on July 18, 2006

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=1000114080&fid=1725

It is a German design, however atleast some of the initial batch were built at Vickers in Great Britain, IIRC.

EDIT: scratch that, I was thinking of the preceeding Gal class when I made the above comment, sorry.

The three Gal-class are a Typ 206 from Gabler, Lübeck, Germany. Payed by the German taxpayer. Official export to a war-zone was not allowed 1974-77 officially. So the fitting of the modules was transferred to Vickers-A., Barrow.
Similar to the “Saar boats”, which were built in France officially too. Till the 70s Germany was main source of defence help for Israel. The money for the weapon-buys came from Germany.

It is a German design, however atleast some of the initial batch were built at Vickers in Great Britain, IIRC.

EDIT: scratch that, I was thinking of the preceeding Gal class when I made the above comment, sorry.

The Dolphin Class is actually a British design

How come a British design , Its a german design and buiilt by germany.

Point of reference just to clear up the matter:

The Dolphin Class is actually a British design, build in Germany by Norwegian people using American money and in service with the Israeli Navy.

If you want a true multi-national project, this is the pinicale of the term!

The following report is from Stratfor, a private sector intelligence organisation which has an interesting take on things.

I would heartily reccomend subscribing if you have any interest in geopolitics. They issue several analysis a day.

www.stratfor.com

***

Israel: German Subs and Nuclear Reach
Summary

Two Dolphin-class submarines will be built in Germany and sold to Israel for $1.17 billion, with the government of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder — who is leaving office Nov. 22 — picking up one-third of the cost. By finalizing the sale on his government’s last day in office, Schroeder is able to reap the benefits of the deal without dealing with the political fallout. Germany has long been hesitant about selling subs to Israel, concerned that the Jewish state might arm them with nuclear weapons. In reality, arming the subs with nukes may not be as technically feasible as people think. Either way, the Israelis probably do not mind other countries believing the subs are nuclear-capable.

Analysis

The outgoing government of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has agreed to supply two Dolphin-class diesel-electric submarines to Israel. The new sub deal will allow the Israelis to upgrade their fleet without taking any of their active boats offline. There is speculation that the Dolphins could be modified to launch nuclear weapons and thereby give Israel a second-strike capability. Although technically possible, it is unlikely the Israelis will transform the boats into an effective nuclear delivery system — using currently available hardware, that is.

Germany, which is a staunch supporter of Israel, donated two Dolphins to Israel in the early 1990s. The Israelis later bought a third at a greatly reduced price. Israel’s existing fleet of three Dolphins, known as the Type 800 in Israeli service, were built at the Howaldtswerke shipyard in Kiel and fitted out with equipment according to Israeli specifications.

Observers have speculated that Israel’s submarine fleet gives the Jewish state a nuclear second-strike capability, the premise being that if a nuclear attack from another country takes out Israel’s nuclear ars enal, the Dolphins would survive and be able to launch a counterstrike from another location. There also has been speculation that the subs could be used to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to prevent Tehran from fielding a nuclear weapon of its own.

Although it would be possible to arm the Dolphins with nuclear weapons — and Israel’s defense industry is certainly capable of doing this — such weapons would not likely be effective against Iran’s nuclear assets or political targets. The Harpoon is an anti-ship missile, designed to seek out ship-sized targets on the water, and the missile’s guidance system would have to be changed to attack targets over land (making it, essentially, a cruise missile). Though that conversion would be possible, some analysts contend that a nuclear warhead would be significantly heavier than the Harpoon’s normal conventional warhead. A heavier warhead means that the range of the missile would be shortened, and its now nose-heavy airframe could degrade its accuracy.

The range of a non-nuclear-armed Harpoon is approximately 175 miles, which is too short for a Dolphin in the Persian Gulf to be able to hit Tehran, or Iran’s nuclear facilities at Arak or Natanz. Only the reactor at Bushehr would be vulnerable. With its shallow water, the Persian Gulf is an environment in which submarines can be spotted relatively easily by aircraft and ships, reducing the likelihood that the Israelis would risk their Dolphins by operating there. Therefore, the Israelis would be compelled to restrict their submarine operations to the deeper Gulf of Oman, or even better, the Arabian Sea.

The Dolphins operated by Israel are similar to the Germans’ Type 212/214 design and were originally designed for interdiction, surveillance and special-forces operations. They can accommodate a crew of 35 for up to two months of operations away from their base. The submarines are capable of launching the U.S.-made RGM-84F Harpoon anti-ship missile from its torpedo tubes. Any nuclear capability the Dolphins would have would be in the form of Harpoons armed with Israeli-made nuclear warheads.

Even getting to their launch point would be problematic for the Dolphins, with their range of 4,500 nautical miles. The only way they could get to the Gulf of Oman without needing to stop for refueling would be to go though the Suez Canal — Going around Africa would mean that they would have to stop in friendly ports at least twice on the way. If a Dolphin from Haifa refuels in Gibraltar, it lacks the range to make it to South Africa. It would have to stop or be replenished along the way. It would also have to refuel on the second leg of its trip, or be replenished at sea.

Given the advanced state of Israel’s aeronautical and defense industry, developing a system that can reach targets deep inside Iran from the Gulf of Oman or the Arabian Sea is certainly within Israel’s technical means. If Israel does have a nuclear second-strike capability, it is unlikely to come from Dolphins firing nuclear-tipped Harpoons from the Gulf of Oman or Arabian Sea. However, with an eventual fleet of five subs lurking in the waters around the Middle East, the Jewish state’s potential enemies cannot completely ignore the possibility that Israel might be capable of responding to an attack, and must keep that in mind when considering any major action against it.

***

The existing Dolphins possess four 650mm tubes in addition to six 533 mm tubes:

The subs are certainly reported as having 650mm tubes, in addition to the normal 533mm ones, supposedly for deploying frogmen. The story about the Popeye Turbo seems a little suspect to me, it seems far more likely to me that Israel has simply appropriated the SS-N-21 Sampson design, and are just using them as the long range missile. I doubt Russia would be too bothered, as long as the Israelis do not start offering the missiles for export.

Goodbye present from Schroeder!

Vaiar and myself posted this news yesterday in the thread “True? Israel and two new Dolphins?“.

The two new submarines will have an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system like in the U212 class.

The Dolpin class I believe are actually ( 209+212 ) hybrid subs , Specially built for Israel purpose ,It is believed that It carries N-Popey cruise missile.

Its a good news for Israel , It should take the number of Dolphins to 5 .

Is it really a Donation as they put it or is it US funded subs in the guise of donation.