Click to see full-size image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
Israel formally welcomed its sixth submarine, INS Drakon, to the Israeli Navy at a ceremony in Haifa on September 24, with senior officials presenting the German-built vessel as a major expansion of the country’s ability to conduct long-range covert operations amid the conflict with Iran.
The submarine had left ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems’ shipyard in Kiel, Germany, on September 1. It then spent 23 days at sea, covering about 3,792 nautical miles, or roughly 8,000 kilometers, before reaching Haifa. The voyage marked the final stage of a program that has taken about 12 years from planning and construction through testing and delivery.
At the September 24 ceremony, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the submarine’s arrival as a message to Iran and other potential adversaries. He said Israel would continue building capabilities to counter threats and stressed that distance would not protect an enemy from Israeli action.
The minister also said the Navy had been involved in operations across multiple combat arenas, including areas that could not be publicly discussed, and that its role would become significantly more important in the future.
“The submarine’s arrival is an important message” to those threatening Israel, Katz said, specifically pointing to Iran. He added that “distance does not grant immunity” in the air, on land or at sea.
Israeli military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir likewise used the ceremony to emphasize Iran. He said Israel was continuing to monitor developments in Iran and among its proxies, describing the Iranian regime as “battered and wounded” but warning that its intentions had not changed.
Zamir called Drakon’s induction one of the military’s key force-building initiatives and said the Navy had reached a new level of capability that was “more covert, farther-reaching, deeper and more lethal.”
Drakon is the third and final submarine in Israel’s Dolphin II series equipped with air-independent propulsion, or AIP. It uses a diesel-electric system supplemented by fuel-cell AIP, allowing it to remain submerged for weeks without relying on outside air.
The class is reported to be armed with six 533-millimeter and four 650-millimeter torpedo tubes, giving the submarines a weapons load that can include up to 16 torpedoes and five missiles.
The most striking difference between Drakon and the two earlier Dolphin II boats, INS Tanin and INS Rahav, is its size and enlarged sail, the structure rising from the submarine’s hull.
Click to see full-size image. (Israeli Army Radio)
Open-source reporting places Drakon at about 73 meters long, roughly 4.5 meters longer than the earlier Dolphin II submarines. The unusual enlargement has prompted years of speculation over what has been installed inside it. Israel and ThyssenKrupp have not publicly disclosed the exact configuration.
The leading theory among naval analysts is that the additional space could accommodate a previously undisclosed launch capability.
The U.S. Naval Institute noted that Drakon’s elongated sail has been speculated to contain a vertical launch system that would allow a larger or different missile loadout than the submarine’s conventional torpedo tubes. Other analysis has suggested that the space could instead, or additionally, house advanced intelligence and surveillance equipment, communications or electronic systems or facilities for launching and recovering unmanned underwater vehicles.
Such a system would be particularly significant because Israel’s Dolphin submarines have long been associated with the country’s undisclosed nuclear weapons.
Israel’s broader naval buildup is set to continue in the coming years, with three new Dakar-class submarines planned for the early 2030s and five Reshef-class corvettes entering service over the next several years, expanding both its undersea and surface fleets.
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