Israel's 4th Nuclear-capable Sub En Route to Home Base

TEL AVIV — The INS Tanin, Israel’s fourth of six planned Dolphin-class submarines, has departed Howaldtswerke-Deutche Werft (HDW) shipyard in Kiel, Germany, for the 4,000-mile trip to its home port in Haifa.

The nuclear-capable air independent propulsion (AIP) submarine and its 50-man crew are expected to reach berth in two weeks, joining three earlier-model diesel-electric Dolphins operating with the Israel Navy’s Flotilla 7 for more than a decade.

Vice Adm. Ram Rutberg, Israel Navy commander, said the newest AIP submarine doubles the capabilities of Israel’s existing Dolphin fleet.

“It will be able to reach further and deeper, for a longer period of time, demonstrating force unknown to this day,” he said in a notice released Sept. 8 by the Israeli military.

Col. A., identified in the Sept. 8 release as the INS Tanin project director, said the submarine and its crew had been training for months under rigorous conditions in the Baltic and North Seas prior to departing the German shipyard.

“The submarine’s crew has been tested by the rigorous standards of the Israel Navy and were found highly qualified,” the officer was quoted as saying. His last name was withheld from publication, ostensibly for security reasons.

Funded nearly one-third by Germany — with steel, propulsion components and other subsystems covered by annual US grant aid — the INS Tanin and a follow-on INS Rahav are nearly eight years in the making under a 2006 contract.

Israel took delivery of Tanin in May 2012 and Rahav in April 2013. The Rahav is expected here by the middle of next year.

A sixth Dolphin-class submarine — the third AIP system of Israel’s eventual underwater fleet — is still under construction and years from delivery. ■