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Israel buys 4 advanced German ships

Xinhua, May 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israel said on Monday it signed a deal to buy four naval patrol ships from Germany to protect the country's offshore gas fields.

The signing ceremony was held in the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, as Israel and Germany mark 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Under the agreement, Germany's ThyssenKrupp will supply Israel with four advanced Patrol Korvette-class warships.

The German government financed about one third, or 115 million euro (128.3 million U.S. dollars), of the 430 million euro (479.6 million dollars) deal.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the vessels are expected to arrive in Israel by 2020, and will help protect Israel's newly found Tamar and Leviathan gas fields.

"The deal marks a dramatic jump in the navy's defensive capabilities," said Dan Harel, a director-general at the ministry of defense.

Germany is emerging as Israel's top navy supplier after it delivered a fourth Dolphin-class submarine in September.

Germany often subsidizes defense projects in Israel as part of its atonement for the Nazi Holocaust during the Second World War. Endit