TSAMTO, January 20. According to information published on January 17 by the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post, the Israeli government may soon sign a contract for the purchase of an additional three Dolphin-class submarines in Germany.
It is assumed that the agreement will include an option to supply a fourth submarine.
According to Haaretz, a few months ago, representatives of the Israeli Defense Ministry said at a closed hearing with the participation of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman that the German company TKMS raised the prices for the construction of a new batch to 3 billion. euro, and the German government refused to increase the previously agreed subsidy. Israel, which initially had to pay about 1.2 billion. euro, now has to pay 2.4 billion. euro. The Interministerial Defense Procurement Committee authorized a higher payment on January 16 without notifying the Knesset.
As reported by TSAMTO, in 2017, the governments of Israel and Germany signed a memorandum of understanding, according to which the Israeli Navy should be supplied with three Dolphin-class submarines built by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) of the third batch worth about 1.6 billion. euro. The German government has agreed to cover a third of the transaction value - about 540 million euros. In 2019, the German government agreed to supply the Israeli Navy with a third batch of three additional submarines.
The new submarines are designed to replace three first-generation submarines, which will guarantee the preservation of the number of the Israeli Navy's submarine fleet at the level of 6 units.
Currently, the Israeli Navy has five Dolphin-class submarines, including three Dolphin-class multipurpose diesel submarines adopted in 1999-2000: Dolphin, Leviathan and Tecuma, which are a modified version of the German Type 209 project, and two improved versions with an air-independent power plant (Tanin and Rahav), which were adopted in 2014 and 2016. The signing of the contract for the supply of the 6th NAPL series became known in 2012. According to unconfirmed information, it is under construction in Germany and is expected to be transferred to the Israeli Navy in the near future.
