[mplawssix]

Jun. 5, 2012 - 04:44PM | By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

BERLIN — Israel is arming submarines supplied and largely financed by Germany with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles,
influential German newsweekly Der Spiegel reports in its issue to be published June 4.

The magazine said in a cover story likely to touch off a debate in Germany that Berlin had until now denied any knowledge
that German submarines were being used as part of an Israeli atomic arsenal.



The opposition Social Democrat Party called on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government for an explanation June 3.

“The federal government must provide information so that we know if the submarines delivered by Germany can be potentially
equipped with nuclear warheads,” party spokesman Rolf Muetzenich told Der Spiegel.

Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said all submarines had been delivered unarmed.



The Dolphins are quiet diesel-electric attack submarines that evolved from Germany’s famous and ubiquitous U209 Class. They
can fire torpedoes and missiles from their 533mm torpedo tubes, perform underwater surveillance, and even launch combat
swimmers via a wet and dry compartment.

Germany 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 3rd submarine for $350 million total, using a 50/50 shared cost arrangement with the German government. INS Tekuma
(“revival, renewal”) also entered service in 2000.