Excerpts from an article at Spiegel Online, explaining how Germany provides Israel with nuclear-weapon-capable submarines.
Deep in their interiors, on decks 2 and 3, the submarines contain a secret that even in Israel is only known to a few insiders: nuclear warheads, small enough to be mounted on a cruise missile, but explosive enough to execute a nuclear strike that would cause devastating results. This secret is considered one of the best kept in modern military history. Anyone who speaks openly about it in Israel runs the risk of being sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
Research SPIEGEL has conducted in Germany, Israel and the United States, among current and past government ministers, military officials, defense engineers and intelligence agents, no longer leaves any room for doubt: With the help of German maritime technology, Israel has managed to create for itself a floating nuclear weapon arsenal: submarines equipped with nuclear capability.
Foreign journalists have never boarded one of the combat vessels before. In an unaccustomed display of openness, senior politicians and military officials with the Jewish state were, however, now willing to talk about the importance of German-Israeli military cooperation and Germany's role, albeit usually under the condition of anonymity. "In the end, it's very simple," says Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. "Germany is helping to defend Israel's security. The Germans can be proud of the fact that they have secured the existence of the State of Israel for many years to come."
In Germany, the government's military assistance for Israel's submarine program has been controversial for about 25 years... Merkel insists on secrecy and doesn't want the details of the deal to be made public. To this day, the German government is sticking to its position that it does not know anything about an Israeli nuclear weapons program...
At the same time, the nuclear arsenal causes countries like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia to regard Israel's nuclear capacity with fear and envy and consider building their own nuclear weapons.
These excerpts come from the first part of a six-part series, all available at Spiegel Online.
Just one thing.
ReplyDeleteNuclear weapons on submarines are classic seconde strike weapons: When an opposing force attacks you so devastatingly that you can no longer defend yourself, you still have those submarines. Knowing this, an enemy will think a lot harder about attacking you.
If you want nuclear weapons for an attack, it would be so much more economical to just build them on land.
Also with the iranian nuclear program being about to get finished thus making Iran a nuclear power, I think it is not an accident that just now those "super secret secrets" where made known to the magazin. Although "SPIEGEL" itself has a well deserved anti-israelic reputation, it seems to me that this article is a part of the western deterrence policy towards Iran.
As always with SPIEGEL there is some bullshit smuggled in between the correct fact. It is for example well known, that Saudi Arabia sees itself not as a potential enemy if Israel but Iran (fighting for domination over the islamic countries with Iran and potentially Egypt). Their wish to become a nuclear power is fueled by the Irans nuclear programm. Israel is just negligible for Saudi Arabia...
I have no doubts that Israel has gone quietly to most of the countries around it and explained what it's red lines are. None of which would be a threat to those countries if they don't attack Israel directly. Saudi would be very happy if Israel was able to stop iran from getting nukes. Israel is just a side story in the long bitter dispute between Sunni's and Shias.
ReplyDelete