Tel Aviv: The Israeli Navy’s new INS Drakon submarine will be fitted with weapons and intelligence systems developed by Israeli defence companies. Details are highly classified, but a naval expert said that after being equipped with all the locally made systems, the new submarine will be capable of a long list of missions – some of them being unique.
“Very far from Israel, with the most advanced intelligence-gathering systems and long-range weapons developed exclusively for this submarine,” the expert added.
According to the Israel Defence Forces, the submarine is not yet fully operational. It is scheduled to enter a maintenance facility for the integration of these locally developed systems. The installation and testing process will take some months, and the submarine will be declared fully operational only after this phase is complete.
The submarine is equipped with an Air-independent propulsion (AIP) system. This system allows non-nuclear submarines to operate underwater for weeks without surfacing or using a snorkel for atmospheric oxygen. Air-independent propulsion (AIP) is a marine technology that allows non-nuclear submarines to operate underwater for weeks without surfacing or using a snorkel for atmospheric oxygen.
Some of the systems were upgraded to address challenges that the Israeli navy was confronted with in the recent war with Iran.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
