JERUSALEM, May 26 (UPI) -- Israel may buy two more submarines from Germany in addition to three purchased earlier, the German newspaper Bild reported Wednesday.
The newspaper quoted senior government officials who said Israel had made preliminary inquiries about the purchase.
The U-212 model submarines are manufactured in shipyards in the city of Kiel and are considered modern and hard to detect, the Ha'aretz news service said.
The reports said German law prohibits the sale of arms to conflict regions. However, during the past decade Israel has purchased three submarines, all funded by the German government.
The German government, headed by Helmut Kohl, agreed to supply the three submarines after it became known the Iraqi Scud missiles fired toward Israel during the Gulf war in 1991 were built with German aid.
According to various foreign reports, the submarines are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
