Image source: topwar.ru
The German shipbuilding company TKMS has handed over to the Israeli Navy in the German city of Kiel a new INS Drakon submarine with VNEU, which is expected to transfer to its home port in Haifa soon. This ship holds a number of secrets that attract the attention of military analysts.
Formally, Drakon belongs to the Dolfin-II type. However, its design differs significantly from the older ships Tanin and Rahaw, which were transferred in 2014 and 2016. All submarines of this project were named after the mythical sea monsters mentioned in the Old Testament, and were built at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft plant in Kiel, owned by TKMS. At the same time, Germany, recognizing its responsibility for the Holocaust, subsidizes the production of submarines: the first two submarines of the Dolfin-II project – by 33%, the third – by 25%.
The Drakon, worth about €550 million, ordered back in March 2012, unlike its older counterparts based on Type 212 and Type 214 submarines, has received significant changes, which actually allows it to be attributed to a completely new project.
It is longer (estimated to be 72-74 m), which made it possible to add an additional section in the middle of the ship, behind the control room, which also became more dimensional. Western observers believe that this design bears a resemblance to the Soviet diesel-electric missile carriers of Project 629, which carried nuclear weapons.
Drakon control room (the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany is due to the fact that at the time of the shooting the submarine had not yet been transferred to the Israeli Navy):
Image source: topwar.ru
There is much evidence that, in addition to the six 533-mm and four 650-mm bow TA (probably designed to launch Popeye Turbo cruise missiles with a range of up to 1,500 km), the Drakon has VPUs located in a very spacious elongated conning tower. Hypothetically, they could accommodate large spacecraft or even ballistic missiles armed with special parts.
Notably, in a statement issued by the Israeli command after the Drakon's christening ceremony in 2022, the ship was described as a "strategic facility" that would patrol vast areas, acting as the "long arm" of the IDF.
Israel does not confirm or deny the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons on board, which is consistent with its doctrine of strategic uncertainty. This uncertainty attracts observers to the new submarine.
