Nukes on the High Seas: Israel's Underwater Atomic Arsenal

In a few months, the fifth “Dolphin” submarine will leave Germany and enter Israeli service. A sixth boat will arrive by 2017.

Under normal circumstances, a force of six modern diesel-electric submarines would represent a large, but not outlandish, undersea commitment on the part of a country of Israel’s size and wealth. But the Dolphins apparently play a much larger role in Israel’s self-defense plans; reports indicate that they will carry a portion of Israel’s nuclear deterrent, in the form of nuclear-armed, submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs).

Theoretically, this gives Israel the third leg (after ballistic missiles and fighter-bombers) of the nuclear triad. But do the Dolphins provide a practical deterrent?

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