IDF names its newest, yet-to-be-delivered submarine ‘Dragon’

A ceremony was held earlier today in Germany to officially name the Israeli Navy’s sixth submarine, INS “Drakon” — or Dragon — though the vessel will not be delivered until 2025, the military says.

The Dolphin 2-class submarine is still undergoing tests and manufacturing at the Kiel shipyard in Germany.

The originally proposed name was Dakar, after an Israeli submarine that sank in 1968. Dragon is meant to be a compromise after some of the families of the fallen sailors from the original Dakar protested the proposal to recycle the name.

The Navy notes that, in Hebrew, Drakon contains the letters that make up Dakar and thus preserves the sunken submarine’s memory.

“Dakar” will instead be reserved for the name of the overall class of the Navy’s future submarines, which are scheduled for delivery at the beginning of the next decade.

The INS Drakon is to be “equipped with unique systems, including groundbreaking technologies that expand the range of the IDF’s capabilities across various arenas,” the military says.