Israel Navy INS Drakon Delivered

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems handed over INS Drakon to the Israeli Navy at its Kiel shipyard on 22 July 2026, with an Israeli Ministry of Defense representative signing the handover protocol in a deliberately low-key ceremony closed to the public. The following day the boat conducted its first sortie off Kiel under Israeli Navy command, flying the Israeli flag. Drakon is the sixth and final Dolphin-class submarine built in Germany for Israel and the third of the improved Dolphin-II (AIP) batch, featuring an enlarged sail assessed to house vertical launch silos. Its handover brings the Israeli submarine fleet to six operational boats; the vessel is expected to reach its home port of Haifa by late summer.