Monday, April 27, 2015

Germany's Federal Security Council has approved the export of a fifth submarine to Israel. It's the penultimate submarine promised to Israel by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and will be handed over by the company Thyssen Krupp.  Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper revealed the approval, citing the Federal Security Council's report to the parliamentary Economics Committee.  Germany's Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) builds the new Air Independent Propulsion Dolphins and the decision to sell them has been criticized for two reasons. One, in that German taxpayers are shouldering a third of the cost.  According to an article written by Anthony Bellchambers for Global Research, the Dolphin Class nuclear powered submarines "that have already been converted by the Israeli navy to being armed with ICB nuclear missiles…has given the Israeli state 'deep sea dominance' that is now virtually irreversible."  Adding that German Chancellor Merkel agreed to supply Israel with the vessels "without any prior consultation with the EU."    "These are the first submarines that will be able to fire this missile, the size of the torpedo tubes allow it to be fired, they have a bigger tubes for bigger missiles.  "The submarines would have the ability to launch them [missiles] — it's the weapon itself that is the critical part and developing that weapon and navigation system for the guidance from within a submerged submarine is a further challenge."  Peter Roberts says it's difficult to say whether the submarines are distinctly designed for nuclear weapons.    A recent report titled 'German Submarines — Capabilities and Potential', written by Captain Raimund Wallner, and published by the Royal United Services Institute in London, says:  "To sum up, one may say that due to their characteristics of compactness, covertness, sustainability and high combat power, submarines made in Germany are already able to meet the majority of the demands which today's and future scenarios pose to underwater platforms. "They do have their price, but they extend the maritime capability spectrum of the Bundeswehr in a unique way, and thus the military options in the hands of the political leaders…
"And it is no exaggeration to claim that the German Navy today disposes of nothing less than the best non-nuclear submarines in the world."



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