Israel has received the INS Drakon, a new German built submarine valued at about €550 million, as the country continues to expand its naval capabilities, with the delivery reported on Monday.

The submarine was delivered by German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems at its facilities in Kiel.

It is the sixth and final vessel of Israel’s Dolphin II submarine series and was originally due to be delivered in 2025.

At more than 70 metres long and with a displacement of more than 2,000 tonnes, the Drakon is larger than earlier vessels in the series.

Israel agreed a €3 billion programme with ThyssenKrupp in 2022 covering the construction of the Drakon and three additional Dakar class submarines.

The German government is expected to cover about 20 per cent of the cost.

The Drakon is the largest submarine built in Germany since the Second World War, according to reports on its delivery.

The vessel was built specifically for the Israeli Navy and forms part of a submarine fleet that Israel considers an important element of its strategic capabilities.

The Israeli Defence Ministry has also said the Hebrew letters in the name refer to Dakar, honouring the INS Dakar submarine which sank off the coast of Cyprus enroute to Israel in 1968.