Champagne bottle is broken on side of the ship at ceremony in Kiel; navy will begin training on sub ahead of its arrival in Israel.
Israel took delivery Thursday of a fourth submarine boosting its fleet in face of the growing threats and challenges in the Middle East. In a ceremony at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyard in Kiel, the INS Tanin was lowered into the water with the participation of OC Navy Vice-Admiral Ram Rothberg, other senior naval officers and Defense Ministry Director-General Udi Shani.
The ceremony marked the official delivery and transfer of responsibility of the submarine to the Israeli Navy.
A bottle of champagne was broken on the side of the ship as is customary upon the launching of new navy vessels.
With the delivery of the submarine, the navy will begin training on the ship ahead of its arrival in Israel in the middle of 2013.
“This is a major boost in our capabilities,” said a senior naval officer, speaking to reporters from Kiel. “Submarines are strategic platforms that allow the navy to operate in the Mediterranean, as well as in any other region in which its presence is required.”
Israel’s submarines are the military’s most expensive platform and are often referred to as the country’s second-strike doomsday weapon due to their reported ability to fire cruise missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.
The other three Dolphin-class submarines in the navy’s fleet are called Dolphin, Leviathan and Tekuma and are believed to be some of the most advanced diesel-electric submarines in the world.
Germany donated the first two submarines after the First Gulf War and split the cost of the third with Israel. The three submarines currently in the navy’s possession employ a diesel-electric propulsion system, which requires them to resurface frequently to recharge their batteries.
The submarines under construction will be fitted with a new propulsion system combining a conventional diesel lead-acid battery system and an air-independent propulsion system used for slow, silent cruising, with fuel cells for oxygen and hydrogen storage.
The submarine that will be delivered is one of two which Israel ordered following the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
In March, Israel signed a contract for a sixth submarine, meaning that by the end of the decade the navy will have doubled its fleet. The German government heavily subsidized both recent deals.
