Israels silent weapon?

Israel's silent weapon?

Many people are still convinced that Israel will initiate a punitive attack on Iran in retaliation for the events on the 7th of October 2023 and also the constant bombardment with missiles either from Gaze, Lebanon or Iran itself.

Not widely publicised is the fact that Israel owns at least five very modern submarines which are capable of delivering enormous firepower.

Five German built Dolphin-I/II class submarines are believed to carry nuclear-armed missiles. Recently INS Drakon, has been launched in Kiel, Germany. It appears to have new, larger, missiles.

Probably few nations have the expertise over a hundred years in the building of submarines which had a huge effect on the Atlantic convoys during WW2.

What makes these boats so interesting is that what most of us might refer to as the conning tower is now called the sail and in the case of these subs is much longer than one might have imagined. The reason is that instead of holding all armaments and torpedo tubes in the main hull these vessels have lengthened tubes in this sail. According to Navy News, this concept is not new and was part of a soviet design in what were known to Nato as the Hotel and Golf Class submarines. Also vertical tubes for cruise or basic missiles are built into the sail.

Extremely interesting is the power concept. Most of us will haveheard of diesel-electric subs (like the one in the famous film "Das Boot") but this class utilises what is referred to as AIP - meaning air independent power. In this section of the boat fuel cells are held and are powered with liquid oxygen.

Diesel electric powered subs utilise diesel to drive them when not submerged and also to charge large batteries which then power the boat when it is under water. This new technology allows the boat to go greater distances under water without having to carry huge batteries.

Navy News also writes that the torpedo tubes are larger than the regular 21 inch in order to accommodate Isreal's own developed cruise missiles. They also speculate that one set of tubes will be reserved for conventional torpedos and the other set for nuclear versions.

Dolphin class submarines have a top speed of over 29mph (25 Knots) and a maximum depth of 350 metres.

Jane's Defence Weekly reported that the Dolphin-class submarines are believed to be nuclear armed, offering Israel a sea-based, second strike capability.

The US Clinton administration rejected an Israeli request in 2000 to purchase Tomahawk long range cruise missiles based on adherence to Missile Technology Control Regime rules. The U.S. Navy has deployed nuclear armed and conventional Tomahawk missiles for its submarine fleet which are launched from standard heavy 533 mm torpedo tubes. The Federation of American Scientists and GlobalSecurity.org reported that the four larger torpedo tubes are capable of launching Israeli own built nuclear-armed Popeye Turbo cruise missiles, which are a variant of the Popeye standoff missile, and the U.S. Navy recorded an Israeli submarine-launched cruise missile test in the Indian Ocean ranging 1500km (930miles).

The distance from Kuwait in the Persian Gulf to Tehran is approximately 777 kilometres. Other possible targets such as Shiraz, Isfahan or Bushehr are even closer. The distance across the land from Tel Aviv is 1588 kilometres which according to some experts presents Israel with problems caused by the need to refuel fighters and bombers with a very limited number of older cumbersome refuelling aircraft which are also non-stealth and very easily detected.

Whether Israel has boats in the Persian Gulf is unknown and how long to might take them to get round the Cape of Good Hope from the Mediterranen could suggest a reason why they have not retaliated as yet.