The main pillar of Israeli naval weapons projection are its submarines. Since the end of the 1990s, the National Navy has had Dolphin class submersibles (Delfín, in Spanish) to carry out covert deployments in international waters. These are diesel-electric ships, similar to those present in the submarines of the Spanish Navy, in which they integrate a very large variety of munitions.
“Israel has equipped its series of Dolphin submarines with a cruise missile called Popeye Turbo“, as indicated in The Jerusalem Post. Israeli media point out that, according to American intelligence sources, the country carried out a test with this type of weapon in the Indian Ocean in 2002.
“The purpose of the missile is launch a possible second attack [nuclear] in case a country decides to carry out a nuclear operation against Israel”, they continue. In terms of military strategy, a second attack -also called retaliatory attack – is the assured ability of a country to respond to an offensive of the same nature.
Submarines, due to their undetectable navigational qualities, have traditionally been positioned as the best platforms to carry out these nuclear response attacks. The main goal of nuclear-armed countries is to convince their adversaries that it is not worth facing a second attack, because it is likely to be more powerful and devastating than the first.
As part of this approach and taking into account the fact that Iran, according to some analysts, is very close to accessing radioactive weaponsthe scenario currently experienced in the Middle East is becoming more complex if possible. The serious situation in the region for months recently worsened with Iran’s massive attack on Israeli territory.
The latest report counts more than 200 missiles reaching Netanyahu’s airspace in a matter of minutes, not counting projectiles shot down by allied countries. For the moment and it is officially known, nuclear warheads are conveniently stored in their silos, but from Israel they have already announced that there will be revenge.
Popeye, submarine and nuclear
The development of the Popeye missile took place in the 1980s. Very few details of its process have been published since then, we only know that the military technology company Rafael Advanced Systems succeeded in manufacturing an image guidance system in the early 70s and that The missile entered service exactly in 1986.
Since then, the Popeye missile family has become one of the most prolific in Israeli industry. The good performances demonstrated in his various campaigns have managed to place him in a good position at the international level and countries like Australia, the United States, South Korea or Turkey They acquired several units.
In 1994, Rafael Advanced Systems developed a variant with a turbofan engine incorporated for the United Kingdom. The British ultimately did not acquire the system, but the company continued to test and refine the design.
This is how the Popeye Turbo (turbofan) was born, which was integrated into the Israeli Defense Force to play a cruise armament role aboard the air branch and, later, submarines . The key year was 2002, when the US Navy observed the launch of Indian Ocean tests of a missile that hit a target 1,500 km from its point of origin.
For that year, Israel already had the first three Dolphin-class submarines operational. With this trio, the country’s military and naval branch “could have a permanent deployment of nuclear weapons at sea”, as they stated in Washington Post in 2002.
“We consider that a deterrent for survival of this type is essential because of Israel’s unique geopolitical and demographic vulnerability to nuclear attack, and which no potential enemy of Israel could ignore. »
The air-launched version of the Popeye Turbo has a similar payload and guidance system to the base Popeye, with a range of between 200 and 350 kilometers. This has led analysts to believe that the differences from the submarine take-off model are very significant, mainly due to its compatibility with nuclear weapons and the possibility of exceed the operating range of 2000 km.
Popeye Turbo missile mounted on board a fighter
As for the warhead, since Global security indicate that Israel can integrate 200 kilogram nuclear warheadswith a plutonium content of 6 kilos. The combination of the two capabilities, as well as the 5 submarines currently operational in Israel – plus one awaiting receipt—transform the Popeye Turbo into a missile capable of reaching Tehran both from the Mediterranean flank and from the Red Sea or the Arabian Sea.
Dolphin submarine
THE Delfín-class submarines hosting the Popeye Turbo They are manufactured at the HDW shipyard located in Cologne (Germany). Although its development was Israeli, the first three units of the family were based on the export version of the German Navy’s Type 209, which underwent a process of modification and enlargement.
Dolphin-class submarine
They have a length of 57.3 meters by a width of 6.8 meters which The 1,900 tons are distributed when submerged. It has diesel-electric propulsion with a cruising speed of 37 km/h and a crew of 35 people.
For its part, Israel also a second batch of submarines called Delfín II. The latter use external air independent propulsion (AIP) technology with a scheme similar to that which Navantia intends to integrate into the Isaac Peral class submarines. This new family is based on the Type 212 – also German – and the first received it in 2014.
The differences with the original Delfín are very significant. He displacement by immersion reaches 2,400 tonnes with 68.6 meters in length and the same width. The speed of these units reaches 46 km/h and also has some differences in terms of weapons.
