Type 212 submarine

Type 212 Submarine

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Type 212 submarine

The German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
Type 212 is a highly advanced design of non-nuclear submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
(U-Boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized#Loanwords version of the German language word , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II....
) developed by Howaldtswerke

Howaldtswerke

Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft is a Germany shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. Today it is the largest shipyard in Germany and has more than 2,400 employees and has since 2005 been part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems owned by ThyssenKrupp....
-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) for the German Navy

German Navy

The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....
. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion

Air-independent propulsion

Air-independent propulsion is a term that encompasses technologies which allow a submarine to operate without the need to surface or use a Submarine snorkel to access Earth's atmosphere oxygen....
(AIP) system using Siemens

Siemens AG

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft is Europe's largest engineering Conglomerate . Siemens' international headquarters are located in Berlin and Munich, Germany....
proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell

Fuel cell

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Encyclopedia

The German

Germany

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
(U-Boat

U-boat

Howaldtswerke

German Navy

Air-independent propulsion

Siemens AG

Fuel cell

A fuel cell is an Electrochemistry conversion device. It produces electricity from fuel and an Oxidizing agent , which react in the presence of an electrolyte....
s. The submarine can operate at high speed on diesel power or switch to the AIP system for silent slow cruising, staying submerged for up to three weeks without surfacing and with no exhaust heat. The system is also said to be vibration-free, extremely quiet and virtually undetectable.

Type 212 is the first of the only two fuel cell propulsion system equipped submarines ready for series production by 2007, the other being the Project 677 Lada class submarine

Lada class submarine

The Russian Navy's Project 677 ???? is a submarine class designed by the Russian Rubin Design Bureau. The class is sometimes referred to as the Saint Petersburg class, after their lead ship....
designed by Russian Rubin Design Bureau

Rubin Design Bureau

Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in Saint-Petersburg is one of the main Russian centers of submarine design, having produced more than two-thirds of all nuclear submarines in the Russian Navy....
.

Development

At the beginning of the 1990s the German Navy

German Navy

Type 206 submarine

The Type 206 is a class of diesel-electric submarines developed by Howaldtswerke . Its design is based on the preceding Type 205 submarine class....
s. Initial study started on a Type 209

Type 209 submarine

Type 209 is a class of diesel-electric attack submarine developed exclusively for export in the late 1960s by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft of Germany....
improved design, with AIP capability, called Type 212.

The final programme started in 1994 as the two navies of Germany

Germany

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
began working together to design a new conventional submarine, respectively to operate in the low and narrow waters of the Baltic sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53?N to 66?N latitude and from 20?E to 26?E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Denmark islands....
and in the deeper waters of the Mediterranean sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
. The two different requirements were mixed into a common one and, because of significant updates to the design, the designation was changed to Type 212A since then.

In 1996 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) gave the start to the cooperation. Its main aim was the construction of identical boats and the start of a collaboration in logistic and life-cycle support for the two navies.

The German government placed an initial order of four Type 212A submarines in 1998. The German Submarine Consortium built them at the shipyards of HDW and Thyssen Nordseewerke GmbH (TNSW) of Emden

Emden

Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on river Ems . It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692....
. Different sections of the submarines were constructed at both sites at the same time and then half of them were shipped to the respective other yard so that both HDW and Thyssen Nordseewerke assembled two complete submarines each.

In the same year the Italian government placed an order of two U212A submarines built by Fincantieri

Fincantieri

Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. is a shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy.It designs and builds merchant vessels, passenger ships, offshore, and naval vessels, and is also active in the conversion and ship repair sectors....
for the Marina Militare
Marina Militare

Marina Militare is one of the four branches of the Military of Italy of Italy. It was formed in 1946, as the Navy of the Italian Republic, from what remained of the Regia Marina and now is considered among the five major navies in the world....
(Italian Navy) at Muggiano

Lerici

Lerici is a town and commune in the province of La Spezia in Liguria , part of the Italian Riviera. Its nearest bay is the Bay of Lerici. The town is connected by ferry to the Cinque Terre and Portovenere....
shipyard.

The German Navy ordered two additional, improved submarines in 2006, to be delivered from 2012 on. They will be 1.2 meters longer to give additional space for a new reconnaissance mast.

On 21 April 2008 the Italian Navy ordered a second batch of submarine in the same configuration of the original ones. Some upgrading should involve materials and components of commercial derivation, as well as the software package of the CMS. The intention is to keep the same configuration of the first series and reduce maintenance costs.

Design

Partly owing to the "X" arrangement of the stern planes, the Type 212 is capable of operating in as little as 17 metres of water, allowing it to come much closer to shore than most contemporary submarines. This gives it an advantage in covert operations, as SCUBA-equipped

Scuba set

A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving....
commando

Commando

In military science, the term commando denotes an individual soldier, a military unit, and a raid . Contemporarily, commando identifies ?lite light infantry and special forces units specialised in parachuting, rappelling, and amphibious warfare to conduct and effect attacks....
s operating from the boat can surface close to the beach and execute their mission more quickly and with less effort.

A notable design feature is the prismatic hull cross-section and smoothly faired transitions from the hull to the sail

Sail (submarine)

In naval parlance, the sail or fin of a submarine is the tower-like structure found on the Dorsum surface of submarines. Submarine sails usually house the conning tower , the periscope, radar and communications masts ....
, improving the boat's stealth

Stealth technology

Stealth technology also known as LO technology is a sub-discipline of military electronic countermeasures which covers a range of techniques used with stealth aircraft, stealth ship, submarines, and missiles, in order to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection methods....
characteristics. The ship and internal fixtures are constructed of nonmagnetic materials, reducing significantly chances of it being detected by magnetometer

Magnetometer

A magnetometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the strength and/or direction of the magnetic field in the vicinity of the instrument....
s or setting off magnetic naval mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of or contact with an enemy ship....
s.

AIP propulsion

Although hydrogen-oxygen propulsion had been considered for submarines as early as World War I, the concept was not very successful until recently due to fire and explosion concerns. In the Type 212 this has been countered by storing the fuel and oxidizer in tanks outside the crew space, between the pressure hull

Submarine hull

The term light hull is used to describe the outer hull of a submarine, which houses the pressure hull, providing hydrodynamically efficient shape, but not holding pressure difference....
. The gases are piped through the pressure hull to the fuel cells as needed to generate electricity, but at any given time there is only a very small amount of gas present in the crew space.

Weapons

Currently, the Type 212A is capable of launching the fiber optic-guided DM2A4

DM2A4

DM2A4 Seehecht export designation "Seahake Mod 4" is a new heavyweight torpedo developed by STN Atlas Elektronik for the German Navy, as a further update of DM2 torpedo which was released in 1976....
Seehecht ("Seahake

Merlucciidae

Merlucciidae is a family of cod-like fishes, including most hakes.They are native to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, being common in southern waters off Tasmania and New Zealand....
") heavyweight torpedoes, the WASS A184 Mod.3 torpedoes, the EuroTorp

EuroTorp

European economic interest grouping EuroTorp is a consortium formed in July 1993 by French and Italian defense companies. Concerned governments signed a memorandum of understanding on industrial co-operation on their new generation lightweight torpedo programs....
BlackShark torpedoes and short-range missiles from its six torpedo tubes, which use a water ram expulsion system. Future capability may include tube-launched cruise missiles.

The short-range missile IDAS

IDAS (missile)

For other uses, see Idas .IDAS is a short-range missile currently being developed for the new Type 212 submarine of the German Navy.IDAS is primarily targeted against air threats, such as Anti-submarine warfare helicopters, but also against small or medium-sized surface vessels or coastal land targets....
(based on the IRIS-T

IRIS-T

IRIS-T is a Germany-led program to develop a short-range air-to-air missile to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder. Any aircraft capable of carrying and firing Sidewinder is capable of launching IRIS-T....
missile), against air threats, but also against small or medium-sized sea- or near land targets, is currently being developed by Diehl BGT Defence

Diehl BGT Defence

Diehl BGT Defence GmbH & Ko KG is a Germany arms manufacturer and a subsidiary of the Diehl Stiftung GmbH with headquarters in ?berlingen. Diehl BGT Defence produces mainly missiles and ammunition....
to be fired from Type 212's torpedo tubes. IDAS is fiber-optic guided and has a range of approx. 20 km. Four missiles fit in one torpedo tube, stored in a magazine. First deliveries of IDAS for the German Navy

German Navy

The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....
are scheduled from 2014 on.

A 30 mm auto-cannon called Muräne (moray) to support diver operations or to give warning shots is being considered too. The cannon, probably a version of the RMK30

Rheinmetall RMK30

RMK30 is a recoilless rifle 30 mm caliber autocannon firing caseless 30 x 250 mm ammunition cartridges. The gun was developed by the German company Mauser, which is now a subsidiary of Rheinmetall Detec AG....
built by Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall Aktiengesellschaft is a Germany automotive and defense industry company with factories in D?sseldorf, Kassel and Unterl??.It was founded on 13th April 1889 by Heinrich Ehrhardt, with help from a consortium of banks, as Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft....
, will be stored in a retractable mast and can be fired without the boat emerging. The mast will also be designed to contain three Aladin UAVs

Aladin (UAV)

EMT Aladin is a small, man-portable light reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle employed by the Bundeswehr .The UAV can be radio-controlled via a portable control station, or fly according to previously set GPS coordinations....
for reconnaissance missions. This mast is likely to be mounted on the 2nd batch of Type 212 submarines for the German Navy.

List of boats

Country	Pennant number Pennant number In the modern Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant numbers . The name pennant number arises from the fact that ships were originally allocated a pennant identifying a flotilla or particular type of vessel: for example, in the Royal Navy, the burgee for torpedo boats, :Image:I...	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned
Germany German Navy The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....	S181		20 March 2002	19 October 2005
Italy Marina Militare *Marina Militare* is one of the four branches of the Military of Italy of Italy. It was formed in 1946, as the Navy of the Italian Republic, from what remained of the Regia Marina and now is considered among the five major navies in the world....	S526	3 July 1999	6 November 2003	29 March 2006
Germany German Navy The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....	S182		4 December 2003	19 October 2005
Germany German Navy The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....	S183		September 2004	13 June 2006
Italy Marina Militare *Marina Militare* is one of the four branches of the Military of Italy of Italy. It was formed in 1946, as the Navy of the Italian Republic, from what remained of the Regia Marina and now is considered among the five major navies in the world....	S527	27 May 2000	18 December 2004	19 February 2007
Germany German Navy The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....	S184		July 2006	3 May 2007
Germany German Navy The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....	S185	21 August 2007		planned for 2011
Germany German Navy The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....	S186			planned for 2012
Italy Marina Militare *Marina Militare* is one of the four branches of the Military of Italy of Italy. It was formed in 1946, as the Navy of the Italian Republic, from what remained of the Regia Marina and now is considered among the five major navies in the world....	S528			planned for 2013
Italy Marina Militare *Marina Militare* is one of the four branches of the Military of Italy of Italy. It was formed in 1946, as the Navy of the Italian Republic, from what remained of the Regia Marina and now is considered among the five major navies in the world....	S529			planned for 2014

General characteristics

* Displacement: 1'450 tonne

Tonne

A tonne or metric ton , also referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms, or 2204.6226 pounds....
s surfaced, 1'830 tonnes submerged

Length: 56 m (183.7 ft), 57.2 m (187.66 ft) (2nd batch)
Beam: 7 m (22.96 ft)
Draft: 6 m (19.68 ft)
Propulsion:

1 MTU
MTU Friedrichshafen

MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH is a manufacturer of commercial engines. It was a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler until 2006 when it was sold off to the EQT Partners private equity fund....
16V 396 diesel-engine
9 HDW/Siemens PEM fuel cells, 30-40 kW each (U31)
2 HDW/Siemens PEM fuel cells 120 kW (U32, U33, U34)
1 Siemens Permasyn electric motor
Electric motor

An electric motor uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy, nearly always by the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors....
1700 kW, driving a single seven-bladed skewback propeller
Propeller

A propeller is a type of fan which transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. It can be used to drive an fixed-wing aircraft, ship, or the fluid within a pump....

Speed: 20 knots
Knot (speed)

The knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour. Its kn abbreviation is preferred by American and Canadian maritime authorities, and by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; however, the kt and kts abbreviations also are used....
(37 km/h) submerged, 12 knots surfaced
Depth: over 700 m (2,296 ft)

Range:

8,000 nautical miles (14'800 km, or 9'196 miles) at 8 knots (15 km/h)

Endurance: 3 weeks without snorkeling
Submarine snorkel

A submarine snorkel is a device that allows a submarine to operate Underwater while still taking in air from above the surface. It was invented by the Dutch people shortly before World War II and copied by the Germans during the war for use by U-Boats....
, 12 weeks overall
Armament:

6 x 533 mm torpedo tube
Torpedo tube

A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes in a horizontal direction.There are two main types of torpedo tube:*Those designed to operate below water level, as fitted to submarines and some surface ships...
s (in 2 forward-pointing asymmetric groups of left 4 + right 2 ) with 12 torpedo
Torpedo

Note: Prior to 1900, in naval usage "torpedo" could also refer to what today is called a naval mine. For that usage, see naval mine.The modern torpedo is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity t...
es or 24 tube mines
IDAS missiles
IDAS (missile)

For other uses, see Idas .IDAS is a short-range missile currently being developed for the new Type 212 submarine of the German Navy.IDAS is primarily targeted against air threats, such as Anti-submarine warfare helicopters, but also against small or medium-sized surface vessels or coastal land targets....
24 external naval mine
Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of or contact with an enemy ship....
s (optional)

Countermeasure
Countermeasure

A countermeasure is a system designed to prevent sensor-based weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target.Countermeasures that alter the electromagnetic, acoustic or other signature of a target thereby altering the tracking and sensing behavior of an incoming threat are designated softkill measures....
s:

Torpedo defence system Tau, 4 launchers, 40 jammer
Jamming

Jamming may mean:* Interfering with communications or surveillance:** Radio jamming** Radar jamming and deception** Mobile phone jammer** E-mail jamming...
s/decoy
Decoy

A decoy is usually a person, tool or event meant as a distraction to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes....
s

Sensors:

STN Atlas
STN Atlas

STN ATLAS Elektronik GmbH was a Germany defence company, producing sensors and other electronic or computer components such as Radar, Sonar, fire-control systems, simulations....
DBQS40 sonar
Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigation, communicate with or detect other vessels. There are two kinds of sonar: active and passive....
suite:

TAS-3 passive low-frequency towed array sonar
Towed array sonar

A towed array sonar is a sonar array that is towed behind a submarine or surface ship. It is basically a long cable, up to 2000 metre, with hydrophones that is trailed behind the ship when deployed....
(deployed from sail)
FAS-3 passive low-, and medium-frequency hull-mounted flank array sonar
MOA 3070 mine detection sonar

Periscope
Periscope

A periscope is an instrument for observation from a concealed position. In its simplest form it is a tube in each end of which are mirrors set parallel to each other and at an angle of 45 with a line between them....
s:

Carl Zeiss SERO 14, with FLIR and optical rangefinder
Rangefinder

A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon....
Carl Zeiss SERO 15, with laser rangefinder

Riva Calzoni periscope masts and snorkeling systems
Submarine snorkel

A submarine snorkel is a device that allows a submarine to operate Underwater while still taking in air from above the surface. It was invented by the Dutch people shortly before World War II and copied by the Germans during the war for use by U-Boats....
Kelvin Hughes
Kelvin Hughes

Kevin Hughes Ltd is a designer and manufacture of marine navigation systems and a supplier of navigational data to both the merchant marine and naval marketplace....
Type 1007 I band
I band

The I band is the range of radio frequency from 8 Hertz to 10 GHz in the electromagnetic spectrum. This is equal to wave lengths between 3.75 cm and 3 cm....
navigation radar
Radar

Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic radiation waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain....
EADS
EADS

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on 10 July 2000 of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany, A?rospatiale-Matra of France, and Construcciones Aeron?uticas SA of Spain....
FL 1800U ESM
Electronic warfare support measures

In military telecommunications, the terms Electronic Support or Electronic Support Measures describe the division of electronic warfare involving actions taken under direct control of an operational commander to detect, intercept, identify, locate, record, and/or analyze sources of radiated electromagnetic energy for the purposes of...
suite
WASS
Wass

Wass, formerly "Byland with Wass" is a village in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. A short distance from the village lie the ruins of Byland Abbey....
hydrophone
Hydrophone

A hydrophone is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates electricity when subjected to a pressure change....
s
Avio GAUDI autopilot
Autopilot

An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. Most people understand an autopilot to refer specifically to aircraft, but self-steering gear for ships, boats, space craft and missiles is sometimes also called by this term....
and hydraulic systems
Kongsberg
Kongsberg Gruppen

Kongsberg Gruppen is Norway's major defence contractor and maritime automation supplier, located in and named after former mining town Kongsberg....
MSI-91 combat system

Crew complement: 23-27 (incl. 5 officers)

External links

Jane's Navy International, 28 September 2006