TEL AVIV, Israel, April 15 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is pressing Germany to sell Israel a sixth Dolphin-class diesel-electric submarine at a hefty discount to boost the strategic reach -- think Iran -- of the Jewish state's expanding navy.

The Germans, increasingly burdened with budgetary constraints and less inclined to help the Israelis as they were in the years following the Holocaust, have been reluctant to underwrite the submarine proposal.


So Israel's military planners may have to shelve plans to build two new surface missile ships to free up funds for an addition to the navy's submarine fleet of five Dolphins, the most powerful underwater force in the Middle East.

The debate over the sixth Dolphin, to be built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsch Werft of Kiel, reflects the conflicting schools of thought within Israel's defense establishment about the shape and role of the navy in coming decades.

One argues that Israel, which gets nearly all its imports including oil and raw materials by sea, will need large, long-range surface ships to keep shipping lanes open, counter Arab navies in the Mediterranean and Red seas, and mount sea blockades of Lebanon or the Gaza Strip.

The deployment of an Iranian frigate and a naval supply ship in the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal in February -- the first since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran -- gave weight to that school.

The other school favors giving the navy a powerful strategic reach through a stronger submarine force, supposedly with second-strike capabilities again Iran, considered a mortal threat to Israel, using nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.

Israel's first two Dolphins were reported to have conducted secret test launches of such weapons in the Indian Ocean in May 2000, hitting targets some 950 miles away.

It's not clear what type of missile was involved, but there's been speculation it was a version of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems' Popeye turbo cruise missile.

The Dolphins, which have a 30-day endurance capability, are also equipped to carry special operations teams for clandestine missions in enemy territory.

At present, the Israeli navy operates three 1,200-ton Dolphins, heavily modified variants of Germany's export-only Type 209 class subs. The first three were delivered in 1998-2000.

Germany agreed in 2006 to provide two upgraded variants built by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems of Hamburg for a total cost of $1.27 billion, with one-third of that picked up by Berlin. These are scheduled for delivery in 2012.

Israel wants the Germans to pay one-third of the $700 million price for a sixth Dolphin.

Netanyahu was reported to have raised the thorny issue when he visited Berlin April 7 for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

It's not known if he made any headway, but Merkel has been critical of Netanyahu over Israel's refusal to stop settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, seen as a major impediment to progress in the Middle East peace process.

For now, it seems the advocates of an expanded strategic submarine force have got the upper hand in the debate over the future of Israel's navy.

In a radical 2009 revamp of its surface fleet, the navy shelved long-held plans to buy two Lockheed Martin multi-mission Littoral Combat Ships because of "prohibitive cost" of around $637 million and a fallback option for corvettes manufactured by Northrop Grumman.

The navy turned instead to state-run Israel Shipyards in Haifa, a major Israeli naval base, to build two 2,200-ton versions of the German Meko A-100 corvette.

But now, it seems, even that option is in doubt because of financial constraints.

Increasingly, the submarines, able to fire missiles into Iran from the Arabian Sea, are seen as the third arm of Israel's strategic forces along with the air force and the Jericho ballistic missile command.

As enunciated by former navy commander Maj. Gen. Avraham Botzer, the Dolphins "are a way of guaranteeing that the enemy will not be tempted to strike pre-emptively with non-conventional weapons and get away scot free."

Israel's media rarely publishes details about the submarine force, but Haaretz reported in September 2010 the number of complete submarine crews will grow from three to 10 by 2018. The normal crew strength is 30-35 men.

Five Dolphins is considered the minimum number required to keep two boats on patrol off Iran at all times.