Report: Israel fitting nuclear missiles on German-built subs

(CBS News) Israel is arming submarines ordered from a German shipbuilder with nuclear weapons, the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported Monday.
According to the magazine's Spiegel's investigative report, submarines built by the shipyard HDW in the northern German city of Kiel are being outfitted by Israel with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.

Three submarines have been delivered to Israel, with three more under contract for delivery by 2017, and the purchase of more being considered.

Despite official government statements in the past disavowing knowledge of Israel's deployment of nuclear weapons on the submarines, former high-ranking officials from Germany's Defense Ministry have told the magazine that they had always assumed Israel would outfit the submarines with nuclear defense capabilities.

Israel Deploys Nuclear Weapons on German-Built Submarines (Der Spiegel: English) Steffen Seibert, a spokesperson for Merkel, told Der Spiegel that all submarines had been delivered unarmed, and that the government "will not speculate on subsequent arming."

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Agence France-Presse, "I can confirm that we have German submarines. It's no secret. As for the rest, I am not in a position to talk about their capacity."