http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990727/V000327-072799-idx.html
Israeli Navy Gets German-Built Subs
By Mark Lavie
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, July 27, 1999; 3:39 p.m. EDT
NOTE: This report was submitted to the Israeli
military censor, who ordered substantial changes
and deletions.
ABOARD THE HANIT MISSILE BOAT (AP) -- Bursting
nose first from the water like its namesake,
Israel's new Dolphin submarine surfaced for the
first time in its home waters today.
The Dolphin is the first of three German-built
diesel-powered submarines to be delivered to
Israel. The squat, cigar-shaped vessel is aimed
at helping transform Israel's aging underwater
fleet into a modern attack-and-deter force.
With a crew of 35, the Dolphin has enough range
to sneak undetected into ports as far away as the
Persian Gulf, send frogmen to plant mines and
destroy ships.
The three submarines carry sub-Harpoon sea-to-sea
missiles. Foreign experts say they can be
replaced by small cruise missiles carrying
nuclear warheads.
Analyst Yiftah Shapir of the Jaffee Center for
Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said he
believes Israel will be able to fashion a nuclear
warhead small enough to fit the Dolphin.
If Israel were attacked with nuclear weapons,
missiles aboard the Dolphin would be unharmed and
ready for retaliation, according to foreign
weapons experts. With Iran and Iraq trying to
acquire nuclear weapons, Israel saw the need for
a second-strike capability, the experts said.
The Israeli military and the government don't
talk about the subject.
The mood was festive today as the Israeli navy
and Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister
Ehud Barak greeted the Dolphin about 12 miles off
the northern port of Haifa.
``Dolphin is only the first of three submarines
... that will change the entire face of the navy
and the long-arm capabilities of Israel,'' Barak
said at the ceremony.
Under clear skies and on calm seas, six gray
Israeli missile boats circled the new submarine,
sending greetings by loudspeaker to its crew as
four F-16 warplanes flew overhead in formation.
Reflecting friendly interservice rivalry, an
officer on the Hanit missile boat remarked that
it was one of the few times the air force has
saluted the navy.
``It's a great feeling, and emotional, too,''
said Capt. Yuval, the commander of the submarine
flotilla that sailed with the Dolphin from
Germany to Haifa Bay. He was plucked from the
two-tone green vessel to talk to reporters aboard
the Hanit.
Yuval, whose last name cannot be used under
Israeli military regulations, said the Dolphin
gives Israel ``a lot of confidence and ability
under the water'' that it did not have before.
Israel contracted with Germany to have two
Dolphin-class submarines built to Israeli
specifications in 1989. In 1990, it canceled the
project because of its high cost -- $300 million
per submarine.
Israel decided to renew the project after the
1991 Persian Gulf War, when Iraq fired 39 Scud
missiles at the Jewish state.
Germany offered to pay for two submarines. The
Israeli military said today that one factor in
the German decision was the role of German
companies in developing Iraq's chemical warheads.
``As a result, the German government offered
humanitarian and military support,'' the military
said in a statement.
In 1994, a third submarine was added, with Israel
and Germany splitting the cost. The second
submarine is to be delivered in October and the
third in 2000.
(c) Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
