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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Germany May Sell 2 More Dolphin Subs to Israel |
| 2005-11-23 |
| Defense-Aerospace relays reports from Der Spiegel and Focus that Germany will sell Israel two AIP-equipped SSK Dolphin Class submarines for a total of EUR 1 billion ($1.17 billion), with the German government picking up one-third of the cost. They will be constructed at the Howaldtswerke-Deutche Werft AG (HDW) shipyard, in the Baltic Sea coastal city of Kiel. The Dolphins are quiet diesel attack submarines that evolved from Germany's famous and ubiquitous U209 Class. They can fire torpedos and missiles from their 533mm torpedo tubes, perform underwater surveillance, and even launch combat swimmers via a wet and dry compartment. It is also rumored that Israel has tested a nuclear-capable verson of its medium-range "Popeye Turbo" cruise missile design for deployability from the two 650mm torpedo tubes in its Dolphin Class submarines. The 2002 launch tests' location off Sri Lanka suggested that they may have been performed in cooperation with India. The AIP system chosen for the 2 newest Dolphin submarines was not specified. While HDW owns Kockums AB and its successful Stirling AIP system, it also has its own technology using Siemens PEM hydrogen fuel cells. This HDW system is used in the U212/214 Class, which the Dolphins resemble and which also derived from the U209 1300/1400 subs. HDW's AIP SystemGermany had already donated two Dolphin submarines to the Israeli navy after the Gulf War in the early 1990s. The first-of-class INS (Israeli Naval Ship) Dolphin was commissioned in 1999, while INS Leviathan was commissioned in 2000. The Israelis later bought a third submarine at $175 million/ $175 million shared cost with the German government, and INS Tekuma ("revival, renewal") also entered service in 2000. The rumours concerning Israel's nuclear-capable cruise missiles had stalled additional sales in 2003, as had Israeli reluctance over the price. Israel's Navy is widely considered to be last among the services on the spending priority list. The $667 million/ $333 million Israeli-German deal for two more submarines satisfies Israeli price concerns, provides a job creation benefit for the German government, and completes the second major and long-delayed arms sale that the Schroeder government has solidified in its final month in office. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 "off Sri Lanka" suggests Chandipur-On-The-Sea where India has a missile test range and tracking radars. Israel has already sold versions of the popeye turbo to India so the sub launched version may find a home with India's own German made subs. HDW is back in India, bidding for the next submarine tender (France won the lsts tender and will be building Scorpenes in an Indian shipyard). HDW is in competition with the Russian Amur. They claim to be able to retool the submarine shipyard they built in India in the 1980s in a matter of months. One interesting offshoot of this is that it will make possible Indian subcontracting from the US for the building of submarines for Taiwan. There are reports of Israeli collaboration on the Indian ATV (nuke sub project) The Indian engineering firm Larson and Taubro is reportedly building the hull and has constructed this pontoon test launcher, already used to testfire a ballistic missile from underwater. Link to Photo |
| Posted by: john 2005-11-23 18:32 |
| #4 India has already purchased the popeye turbo |
| Posted by: john 2005-11-23 18:27 |
| #3 "The rumours concerning Israel's nuclear-capable cruise missiles had stalled additional sales in 2003, as had Israeli reluctance over the price." German export regulations bar the sale of heavy weaponry to "crisis areas". Yet it is the common assumption that Israel already is capable of mounting nuclear weapons on its submarines. And if not, its only a matter of time before they do. So are the descrepencies in production cost vs sale price due to shrewd negotiations or simply an indirect military assistance grant? |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-11-23 15:11 |
| #2 That's an extremely interesting link to the article describing cooperation with India. It's a Walter Pincus piece from 2002 discussing all sorts of Iraqi intentions and capabilities. Of course, he lies throughout since it is all based on misleading intelligence. I wonder if the WaPo is taking any remedial action on this point? |
| Posted by: Gramp Joque6110 2005-11-23 14:48 |
| #1 Bet India ends up buying secret squirrel block II |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-11-23 14:20 |
