Posted on 07/01/2006 2:42:29 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
Germany-Israel-Submarines
The German government gave the green light for the controversial export to Israel of a Dingo 2 armored personnel carrier and two Dolphin class submarines which could be modified to carry nuclear warheads, the daily Die Welt reported on Saturday.
It cited coalition circles as saying that Germany's highest secret body -- the Federal Security Council -- expressed no objections to the Dingo sale for testing purposes.
The Israeli army has repeatedly said it was interested in buying Dingo 2 which could be used to quell the Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories.
In fact the German government halted the deal for over year, following concerns that the vehicles could be deployed in the Palestinian-run areas.
Equipped with a machine gun and armored against mines and shrapnel, Dingo 2 can seat between eight to ten soldiers.
Meanwhile Die Welt also reported that the German government will sign a billion-euro deal this month for the sale of two new German submarines to Israel.
Built by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, the German government had agreed to foot one-third of the construction costs from its household budget, estimated at around 330 million euros.
Berlin also delayed the export of both submarines after US news reports said Israel had modified three of its German Dolphin submarines to carry nuclear warheads.
Germany donated three Dolphin submarines to Israel in 1999 and 2000.
Although Berlin is legally banned from exporting arms to crises regions, Germany has become one of Israel's major arms supplier.
German arms exports to Israel reached around 900 million dollars between 1998 and 2001.
I see 0 problems with this. Good for Israel.
Agreed. Interesting source, though.
The only problem could be the leakage of technology, say to the Chinese. The Israelis are good at looking at things and then improving on them. And they have a sizable arms export industry.
Yes, there is that and I have complained many times on FR about that exact issue. Why in the world they take money and technology from states and turn around and cynically sell it to our enemies will be one of the great mysteries. Filthy business and one they should be held to account for. (I.e. the Joint strike fighter)
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