The Israeli defence industry has developed ballistic missiles for the Dolphin submarines built in Germany. They are intended to make the submarines more defensive and increase their combat effectiveness.

The Dolphin boats were developed from the U-209 and U-212 classes and built by the Kiel-based company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, now part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, in cooperation with the former Nordseewerke in Emden. The Israeli Navy commissioned three Dolphin I-class submarines with diesel-electric propulsion from 1999 and two further developed Dolphin II-class boats with air-independent propulsion (AIP) from 2014. The third boat was not christened until November 2024 (INS DRAKON) and is currently being delivered. A third construction lot with three further units as the Dakar class has already been contractually agreed with TKMS.

The AIP propulsion system enables the 68 metre long submarines to remain under water for weeks at a time, independent of the outside air. They are equipped with diver escape chambers and have a maximum crew of 50 people.

The class has a total of ten torpedo tubes in two different sizes (6 x 533 mm and 4 x 650 mm), from which different torpedoes and missiles can be fired. This also includes the Popeye turbo cruise missile developed in Israel, which can be equipped with a nuclear warhead and is estimated to have a range of 1,500 kilometres, although this has not been officially confirmed. According to media reports, the DRAKON has been extended by more than 4 metres and equipped with vertical launch silos (Vertical Launching System/VLS) in order to be able to launch nuclear-tipped cruise missiles or ballistic missiles vertically from the tower. However, there is not yet any photographic evidence of the VLS.

kdk, Defence-Network