Israeli Navy reportedly takes delivery of final Dolphin-class submarine INS Drakon in Germany.

The Israeli Navy may have officially assumed custody of the Dolphin II-class submarine INS Drakon from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems at a private handover in Kiel on July 22, 2026, according to the German media Marine Forum. The modified vessel features an extended 73-meter hull and a substantially enlarged sail designed to accommodate specialized payload capacity and advanced surveillance equipment. While analyses indicate the hull adjustments may support vertical launch missile tubes or special operations deployments, there is no official confirmation to date regarding the handover, exact internal configuration, or specific weapons payload assigned to the submarine.

Measuring roughly 73 to 74 meters in length with a 2,400-tonne submerged displacement, the INS Drakon incorporates fuel-cell air-independent propulsion and a bow tube array consisting of six 533 mm and four 650 mm launch cells. The enlarged design marks the completion of Israel's six-boat Dolphin procurement program while serving as a structural testbed for the upcoming Dakar-class fleet scheduled for the 2030s.

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The INS Drakon is unique within the Dolphin-class because it combines an extended hull with a much larger sail and added internal mission volume, making it a direct technological bridge to the future Dakar-class submarines. (Picture source: Michael Nitz, Naval Press Service via X/Alex Luck)

According to the German media Marine Forum on July 28, 2026, the Israeli Navy reportedly took formal control of the Dolphin-II submarine INS Drakon at TKMS’ shipyard in Kiel on June 22, marking the completion of a six-submarine procurement program that began in 1990. The transfer took place without a public commissioning ceremony or official announcements, and the submarine left the fitting-out area on July 23 under Israeli command for additional acceptance activity in Kiel Bay before reportedly beginning the final process leading to deployment from Israel. The INS Drakon is the third submarine grouped within the Dolphin-II or Dolphin AIP class, but it is not a repeat of INS Tanin and INS Rahav.

Construction began in 2012, Israel approved a major change in configuration during the build, and the submarine subsequently received a longer hull, a substantially enlarged sail and new internal spaces that could not be accommodated in the original Dolphin-II arrangement. It was relaunched in August 2023, christened on November 12, 2024, tested through 2025 and 2026, and delivered nearly 14 years after construction began. This makes the INS Drakon both the final submarine of the Dolphin-class and an intermediate vessel incorporating engineering choices intended to carry over into the three Dakar-class boats that will replace Israel's oldest submarines during the 2030s. Israel ordered the sixth Dolphin submarine in 2012 through the follow-on programme that had already produced the INS Tanin and the INS Rahav.

Work began at Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel, later incorporated into TKMS, with the initial expectation that the boat would broadly follow the 68.6 m Dolphin-II configuration. That baseline already represented a major step beyond the first three Dolphins because it added an Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) section, increased submerged displacement from about 1,900 tonnes to 2,400 tonnes and lengthened the hull by more than 11 m. During the INS Drakon's construction, however, Israel decided that the third AIP boat should receive capabilities that could not be inserted through equipment replacement alone. The resulting changes required structural work on the pressure hull, additional internal volume, a redesigned sail, new cable and pipe routes, altered machinery and accommodation layouts, and a new sequence of harbour, propulsion, sensor and sea trials.

The decision imposed a direct schedule penalty, since the INS Tanin entered service in 2014 and the INS Rahav in 2016 while the INS Drakon remained at Kiel for another decade. By August 2023, when the submarine emerged in its revised form, it was visibly no longer a standard third unit of the same configuration. The November 12, 2024, naming ceremony was therefore also used to mark the start of the Dakar-class construction, linking completion of the modified sixth Dolphin to the beginning of the replacement programme. The INS Drakon is about 73 to 74 m long, compared with 68.6 m for the INS Tanin and the INS Rahav and 57.3 m for the earlier Dolphin, Leviathan and Tekumah. It is therefore 4.4 to 5.4 m longer than the previous AIP boats and more than 15 m longer than the first-generation Dolphins.

Beam remains 6.8 m and draft about 6.2 m, while surfaced displacement is estimated at 2,050 tonnes and submerged displacement at about 2,400 tonnes. Those displacement figures remain within the established Dolphin-II range, but the distribution of volume has changed because the sail is much longer, broader and taller and extends significantly farther aft. The enlarged structure creates space that could not be provided in the original sail, while the inserted hull section increases internal volume within or adjacent to the pressure hull. Sail enlargement affects stability, hydrodynamic resistance, mast arrangement, acoustic management, structural reinforcement and the internal routing required for any large-diameter tubes or mission spaces installed beneath it.

During activity after the transfer, six retractable masts were visible at the same time, indicating that the sail likely contains a dense set of optronic, communications, navigation and electronic surveillance systems. The INS Drakon consequently occupies a distinct place within the Israeli submarine fleet, even though it remains grouped with the Dolphin-II boats for administrative and programme purposes. The propulsion arrangement combines three diesel engines, electric machinery, batteries and a fuel-cell Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system driving a single shaft. The diesel engines are used primarily to recharge the batteries while snorkeling or operating on the surface, whereas the fuel cells generate electricity underwater without requiring access to atmospheric oxygen.

The operational advantage is reduced exposure, as a conventional diesel-electric submarine must periodically raise a snorkel mast, operate noisy diesel machinery and approach the surface, where radar, infrared sensors, electronic surveillance and maritime patrol aircraft have a better chance of detecting it. The AIP allows the INS Drakon to remain at patrol depth for periods measured in weeks when operating at low speed, reducing the number of snorkeling cycles required during surveillance or deterrence patrols. Maximum submerged speed exceeds 25 knots, compared with about 20 knots for the first-generation Dolphins, while test depth is at least 350 m. The established class range reaches 8,000 nautical miles at 8 knots on the surface and more than 400 nautical miles at 8 knots submerged on battery power, with deployments lasting up to 30 days without resupply. 

Crew size is normally about 35, but accommodation for roughly ten additional personnel allows intelligence specialists, special forces, technicians or unmanned-system operators to embark. This endurance supports operations from Haifa through the eastern and central Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and, when required, toward the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean without a permanent Israeli submarine base outside the Mediterranean. The INS Drakon retains ten bow torpedo tubes, six with a diameter of 533 mm and four with a diameter of 650 mm, giving it one of the most unusual weapon-tube arrangements among Western-built conventional submarines. The 533 mm tubes can employ heavyweight torpedoes such as the DM2A4 Seehecht, an electrically powered weapon using fibre-optic guidance, active and passive homing and countermeasure-resistant signal processing. 

The 650 mm tubes offer substantially greater cross-sectional volume and can accept large missiles, mines, swimmer delivery equipment, unmanned underwater vehicles or other specialized payloads. With internal liners, they can also carry smaller weapons. The Dolphin combat architecture uses an Atlas Elektronik ISUS-series command and weapon-control system to combine sonar, electronic surveillance, navigation and fire control data. The sensor fit includes a hull-mounted active-passive sonar, passive ranging sonar, flank arrays, electronic support equipment and a surface-search radar, giving the submarine the ability to detect, classify and engage surface ships and submarines while minimizing active transmissions. The Drakon's enlarged sail and added hull volume provide capacity beyond the ten bow tubes.

Possible configurations include a small number of large vertical shafts, several smaller launch cells, or multipurpose compartments for missiles, unmanned vehicles, reconnaissance equipment, and special operations teams. No confirmed number of vertical cells or assigned missile type is available. The measurable fact is that Israel accepted additional cost, structural risk and a decade of schedule divergence from Rahav in order to gain mission volume that the standard Dolphin-II configuration did not possess. The Israeli submarine force now contains six boats divided evenly between three Dolphin-I submarines and three Dolphin-II AIP submarines. INS Dolphin entered service on May 29, 1999, INS Leviathan on June 29, 1999, and INS Tekumah on July 25, 2000.

These boats are 57.3 m long, displace about 1,640 tonnes surfaced and 1,900 tonnes submerged, lack fuel-cell AIP and have a lower submerged speed of about 20 knots. INS Tanin entered service on June 30, 2014, followed by INS Rahav on January 13, 2016, while Drakon entered Israeli custody in July 2026. The second generation is 68.6 m or longer, displaces about 2,050 tonnes surfaced and 2,400 tonnes submerged, exceeds 25 knots underwater and can remain submerged for much longer periods because of AIP. The practical result is not simply an increase from five to six boats. Submarines rotate through deployment, crew certification, maintenance, battery work, weapon loading, repair and modernization, which means only a portion of the fleet is available at any one time.

With three AIP boats instead of two, the Israeli Navy can sustain a more stable readiness cycle in which one modern submarine is deployed, one is preparing or recovering, and one is undergoing deeper maintenance. The force still depends on the older Dolphin-I boats for half of its hull count, but the Drakon reduces the operational burden placed on Tanin and Rahav during extended patrols. The INS Drakon also reduces the engineering gap between the Dolphin-II and the Dakar-class programme. Israel signed the contract for three Dakar-class submarines in January 2022, with a programme value of about €3 billion covering the boats, a simulator, logistics support and spare parts. Germany is expected to contribute €540 million, while TKMS is investing in new Kiel facilities, including shipbuilding infrastructure and fuel-cell production capacity.

The first Dakar-class submarine began being constructed in November 2024 and is scheduled for delivery at the beginning of the next decade. The new class is intended to replace Dolphin, Leviathan and Tekumah rather than increase the fleet beyond six submarines, shifting procurement from expansion to one-for-one replacement. The INS Dakar is expected to be larger than the Dolphin series and to use the same broad design direction first tested on the Drakon, including greater internal volume, a prominent sail section and capacity for payloads beyond conventional torpedo-room arrangements. The Drakon allows the Israeli Navy to begin developing crew procedures, maintenance practices, loading methods and command arrangements for capabilities that would otherwise first appear on Dakar-class submarines.

Israel's submarines are assigned to Shayetet 7 and based at Haifa, but their missions extend beyond coastal defense or eastern Mediterranean sea denial. Israeli submarines have used the Suez Canal, operated in the Red Sea, and appeared near Eilat, demonstrating that the Navy can reposition boats toward the approaches to the Indian Ocean. A December 2020 transit through the Suez Canal and Red Sea showed how a Dolphin could be moved toward the Persian Gulf during a period of tension with Iran. The Drakon's likely mission set includes anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship attack, covert intelligence collection, electronic surveillance, insertion or recovery of special forces, operation of unmanned underwater vehicles and long-range land attack.

Its larger internal volume matters because these missions compete for storage, crew space, battery capacity, weapons and specialist equipment aboard a conventional submarine. A boat configured for special operations or unmanned systems may carry fewer torpedoes, while a long-range strike patrol may require more weapons and fewer mission specialists. The submarine's name connects the new boat to INS Dakar, the former British T-class submarine HMS Totem purchased by Israel in 1965 and commissioned into the Israeli Navy on November 10, 1967. Dakar left Portsmouth on January 9, 1968, called at Gibraltar on January 15, and entered the Mediterranean with a planned arrival at Haifa on February 2.

It was averaging more than 8 knots and requested permission to arrive several days early. At 06:10 on January 24, it transmitted a position east of Crete, followed by three control transmissions without coordinates. Its final transmission was received at 00:02 on January 25, after which contact ceased. The submarine disappeared with all 69 crew members, and the international search involved Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States, Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. The wreck was located on May 24, 1999, between Crete and Cyprus at a depth of about 3,000 m, 31 years after the loss. Examination found the submarine resting on its keel with the sail broken away and the stern separated aft of the engine room. The precise initiating event remains unknown, but the wreck indicates that the boat descended rapidly beyond its maximum operating depth and suffered catastrophic pressure-hull failure.

Findings presented to the families in 2015 identified catastrophic equipment failure or loss of control as the most likely explanation and reduced the probability of a deliberate attack, although earlier theories had included Egyptian mines, Soviet action, collision and other hostile causes. The sixth Dolphin was initially expected to carry the name Dakar, but opposition from relatives led the Navy to select Drakon. Its Hebrew spelling, דרקון, contains the letters ד, ק and ר used in Dakar, while the Dakar name was reassigned to the entire three-submarine replacement class. This creates a direct institutional link between the 69 submariners lost in 1968 and the boats that will replace Israel's first-generation Dolphins during the 2030s.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.

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