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German subs delivered to Israel

September 30, 2009

BERLIN (JTA) -- Two new German submarines were delivered to Israel.

The submarines, ordered in 2005, reportedly can launch cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads, according to the French news agency AFP.

An Israeli military spokesman, speaking off the record, confirmed the delivery of the two Dolphin-class submarines, known as U212s. The range of the missiles the subs can carry would extend at least as far as Iran, whose controversial nuclear program coupled with verbal threats against the Jewish state have raised alarm.

Israel reportedly now has five submarines from Germany, which donated the first two subs to Israel after the 1991 Gulf War. The two countries split the cost of the third sub.

In a recent military exercise, an Israeli submarine entered the Suez Canal for the first time, accompanied by an Egyptian naval escort.
 

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