Drumbeat of war: Israel refurbishes nuclear submarine, Russia tests interceptor missile

December 20, 2011 – MIDDLE EAST – Israel is wrapping up refurbishment of a nuclear-capable submarine removed discreetly from active duty nearly two years ago, the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday. The Israeli navy completed much of the project covertly to prevent hostile powers from learning that one of the nation’s three Dolphin-class submarines was unusable, according to the Post. The newspaper was permitted on Sunday to examine the vessel, which is being put back together at the country’s Haifa shipyard. The German-built submarines are considered capable of launching nuclear-armed cruise missiles. Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, but neither confirms nor denies its possession of an atomic arsenal. The $26.4 million update to the submarine included disassembly of the vessel’s piping, spigots and sound-based navigation and detection systems, project manager Maj. Doron Bareket said. The effort also involved mending fissures in the submarine’s outer structure, as well as cleansing its body and individual motor components. “Every vessel that comes in to the shipyard for maintenance and upgrades comes out with improved capabilities,” shipyard head Col. Eli Shouach said. “There are a select number of countries around the world which can independently renovate a submarine. Some have tried and failed.” Israel received the submarine from Germany in 1999, and the vessel is expected to remain in service for another 18 years. Berlin has agreed to provide Israel with three additional Dolphin submarines, according to a previous report. –GSN 

Russia tests interceptor missile: Russia on Tuesday conducted a trial flight of a short-range missile interceptor, ITAR-Tass reported. The test launch occurred just after noon Moscow time at the Sary-Shagan weapons range in Kazakhstan, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The Russian strategic missile forces conducted the test in cooperation with military-space defense troops and defense industry officials. “The purpose of the launch is to confirm the tactical and technical performance characteristics of interceptor missiles of the missile defense system, which are in service with Russia’s military-space defense,” according to the ministry. –TASS 

More Dirty Bomb Drills: The government of the Bahamas and several U.S. federal agencies have completed a two-day exercise on managing material that could be used to produce a radiological “dirty bomb,” the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced on Friday. The comprehensive goal of the program was to strengthen Bahamian capacities for “radiological material detection, packaging and disposal,” according to an NNSA press release. “The first phase focused on communications, notification procedures and the arrival of a NNSA response team,” the release says. “The second phase focused on the deployment of the emergency response team to the Freeport Container Port to identify, remove and package the detected radiological material.” Officials from the NNSA Emergency Operations Office and the State and Homeland Security departments participated in the exercise. There are continuing fears regarding the potential for terrorists to build and use a dirty bomb — a weapon that would employ conventional explosives to disperse radioactive material. –NTI