The National Interest reported that a remarkably small diesel-fueled submarine built by the German firm, the Dolphin-class submarine is Israel’s ace-in-the-hole in terms of its nuclear weapons capability.
One normally doesn’t think of tiny, old diesel-fueled submarines as being an “ace-in-the-hole” technology but that is precisely what Israel’s Dolphin-class subs are because these ultra-quiet submarines have been outfitted by the industrious Israelis with nuclear cruise missiles.
ISRAEL’S NUCLEAR DYAD
So, while not as powerful as an American or Russian ballistic nuclear missile submarine, the Dolphin-class affords Israel with an essential second-strike capability that it otherwise would lack.
Thanks to the Dolphin-class submarine, Israel’s military now has a nuclear dyad (land and sea nuclear-launch capability).
The Israelis have never acknowledged that they procured these tiny, diesel-powered submarines for the purpose of launching nuclear-capable cruise missiles.
In fact, Israel’s government has yet to acknowledge the existence of a nuclear weapons program at all.
But this was essentially confirmed in 2000, when the US Navy observed Israeli missile tests in the Indian Ocean. During those Israeli military exercises, the Dolphin-class submarines had been outfitted with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
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