’Israel’ Seeking 3 New Submarines from Germany
Local Editor
"Israel" is seeking to buy three more advanced submarines from Germany at a combined price of 1.2 billion euros [$1.3 billion], an "Israeli" newspaper reported Friday.
The Maariv daily said the planned purchase aims to replace within the next decade the oldest vessels in its existing Dolphin fleet, which began entering service in 1999.
Contacted by AFP, the "Israeli" war ministry declined to comment on the report.
"Israel" already has five of the state-of-the-art German submarines, with a sixth due for delivery in 2017, Maariv said.
Foreign military sources say the Dolphins can be equipped with missiles armed with nuclear warheads.
They say "Israel" has between 100 and 200 warheads and missiles capable of delivering them.
The Zionist entity refuses to confirm or deny it has such nuclear weapons.
"The new submarines are said to be more advanced, longer, and equipped with better accessories," Maariv said.
In 2012 the influential German news weekly Der Spiegel quoted former high-ranking German defense ministry officials saying that Berlin always assumed "Israel" was putting nuclear warheads on the Dolphin-class vessels.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said at the time all submarines had been delivered to "Israel" unarmed.
"The federal government will not speculate on subsequent arming," spokesman Steffen Seibert said then.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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