Israel will hold a ceremony on Thursday displaying the final of six submarines manufactured by Germany as part of a deal signed a considerable time ago.
On September 1, the IDF and the Defense Ministry announced that this final submarine, the “Dragon,” had left Germany on its way to Israel.
Israeli Navy chief V.-Adm. Eyal Harel and German Naval chief Jan Christian Kaack, as well as other top Israeli and German officials, attended a send-off ceremony for the submarine on September 1, and top Israeli officials are expected at Thursday’s ceremony.
In February, Elbit Systems put out a strikingly vague statement about the beginning of joint work in Israel with the German maritime vessel manufacturing giant TKMS (the successor company to an expanded ThyssenKrupp and producer of this submarine) to produce “structural components” for future submarines.
As part of the cooperation, Elbit said at the time that it would establish a new manufacturing facility for underwater Glass Reinforced Polyester (GRP) components for submarines.
Elbit: Cooperation will expand manufacturing capabilities
Yoram Shmuely, general manager of the Aerospace Division at Elbit Systems, said, “This cooperation will expand local manufacturing capabilities and serve as an anchor for global activity in the underwater domain.”
In December 2025, with Germany about to deploy its Arrow air defense system bought from Israel for the first time, the Israeli Defense Ministry made new progress regarding the German-built submarines in Berlin, The Jerusalem Post reported at the time.
According to foreign reports, the submarines are able to deliver nuclear weapons. Multiple foreign publications have reported that Israeli submarines are part of a triad of nuclear deterrence that Israel possesses, along with land-based and air-based weapons
During their stay in Germany, Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram and other senior defense officials made new progress regarding the ongoing submarine deals, which have unique offensive and also defensive capabilities.
Though Israel has never publicly admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, former prime ministers, such as Ehud Olmert and others, have, at times, slipped up and alluded to the weapons program.
Besides the offensive dimensions, the IDF made unusual disclosures during the Israel-Hamas War about the involvement of submarines in operations against Iran, Yemen, and Syria, including operations that assisted with Israel’s defense against aerial threats.
Movement on both the submarines and the Arrow, along with new levels of Israeli and German cooperation in other cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, signaled in December 2025 that the special relationship between Berlin and Jerusalem remained despite disagreements over the war in Gaza.
Germany acquires Israel's Iron Dome system
Earlier this month, Germany also moved forward in acquiring Israel’s Iron Dome system for shooting down shorter-range threats, notably drones.
In November 2024, then-IDF naval chief Adm. David Saar Salame named the new Dragon submarine at a ceremony in Germany.
At the time, it was thought that Israel would receive the submarine in late 2025.
The navy has carried out surveillance and struck Hezbollah targets in a number of areas that are deeper in Lebanon than where IDF ground forces have progressed, given that those forces are limited to southern Lebanon.
In addition, the navy has provided constant defense to Israel’s maritime borders and to its strategic sites, such as its natural gas rigs.
This has included clandestine operations which can reveal Hezbollah and other countries’ plans to threaten or prepare to fire on Israel before they actually fire, in order to enable the air force to preemptively strike such enemy locations.
One area which has been especially challenging has been defending against Houthi attacks on Eilat, given that when the navy helps shoot down threats, it must contend with an extremely small zone of defense to avoid invading Egyptian or Jordanian airspace – or it would need to coordinate with those countries if necessary.
The six-submarine deal dates back many years and has been part of the navy’s strategic modernization effort.
Earlier on Tuesday, Army Radio reported that the Israeli defense establishment is beginning to push for the government to sign a deal for a seventh submarine in the near future, followed by an eighth at a later date.
The idea would be to keep up with Turkey, which has 14 submarines and is moving toward 18 submarines.
On the other hand, a single submarine can cost around €1 billion, and the Defense Ministry and Finance Ministry are already at loggerheads about a delayed NIS 15b. payment due to the IDF some time ago.
The military has threatened that if the payment is not made soon, it will cut back on ground force drills, reservists’ call-ups, and upkeep of certain vehicles; and it may eventually cut back on purchases of military vehicles of strategic value.