The
GermanGermany , 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,...
Type 212 is a highly advanced design of non-nuclear
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
(
U-BoatU-boat is the anglicized version of the German 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-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) for the
German NavyThe German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
. It features diesel propulsion and an additional
air-independent propulsionAir-independent propulsion is a term that encompasses technologies which allow a submarine to operate without the need to surface or use a snorkel to access atmospheric oxygen. The term usually excludes the use of nuclear power, and describes augmenting or replacing the diesel-electric propulsion...
(AIP) system using
SiemensSiemens AG is Europe's largest engineering conglomerate. Siemens' international headquarters are located in Berlin and Munich, Germany. The company is a conglomerate of three main business sectors: Industry, Energy and Healthcare with a total of 15 Divisions.Worldwide, Siemens and its subsidiaries...
proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen
fuel cellA fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that produces electricity from a replenishable fuel tank. The electricity is generated through the reaction, triggered in the presence of an electrolyte, between the fuel and an oxidant . The reactants flow into the cell, and the reaction products flow out of...
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 submarineThe Russian Navy's Project 677 Лада is a submarine class designed by the Russian Rubin Design Bureau. The class is sometimes referred to as the Saint Petersburg class, after the lead ship...
designed by Russian
Rubin Design BureauRubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in Saint Petersburg is one of the main Russian centers of submarine design, having designed more than two-thirds of all nuclear submarines in the Russian Navy...
.
Development
At the beginning of the 1990s the
German NavyThe German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
was seeking a replacement for the
Type 206 submarineThe Type 206 is a class of diesel-electric submarines developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche-Werft AG . Its design is based on the preceding Type 205 submarine class. These small and agile submarines were built during the Cold War to operate in the shallow Baltic Sea and attack Warsaw Pact shipping...
s. Initial study started on a
Type 209Type 209 is a class of diesel-electric attack submarine developed exclusively for export in the late 1960s and constantly been modernized 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
GermanyGermany , 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
ItalyItaly , 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. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
began working together to design a new conventional submarine, respectively to operate in the low and narrow waters of the
Baltic seaThe 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 Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
and in the deeper waters of the
Mediterranean seaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
. 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
EmdenEmden 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.-History:...
. 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
FincantieriFincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. is a shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy.-Overview: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"Italian Navy" redirects here. For other uses, see Italian Navy Marina Militare is one of the four branches of the military forces of Italy...
(Italian Navy) at
MuggianoLerici 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.
The export-oriented
Type 214 submarineThe Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH . It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion system using Siemens polymer electrolyte module hydrogen fuel cells...
is based on features of the Type 212.
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-equippedA scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....
commandoThe term commando, in English, means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means élite light infantry and/or special forces units, specialised in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and effect...
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
sailIn naval parlance, the sail or fin of a submarine is the tower-like structure found on the dorsal surface of submarines...
, improving the boat's
stealthStealth technology also known as LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures , which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, in order to make them less visible to radar, infrared , sonar and other...
characteristics. The ship and internal fixtures are constructed of nonmagnetic materials, reducing significantly chances of it being detected by
magnetometerA magnetometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the strength and/or direction of the magnetic field in the vicinity of the instrument. Magnetism varies from place to place and differences in Earth's magnetic field can be caused by the differing nature of rocks and the interaction...
s or setting off magnetic
naval mineA 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
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 and outer light hull. 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
DM2A4DM2A4 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. Being the successor of the DM2A3, it will feature an electrical propulsion system and a fiber optic...
Seehecht ("
SeahakeMerlucciidae 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
EuroTorpGEIE 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
IDASFor other uses, see Idas .IDAS is a short-range missile currently being developed for the new Type 212 submarine class of the German Navy....
(based on the
IRIS-TIRIS-T is a German-led program to develop a short-range air-to-air missile to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder...
missile), against air threats, but also against small or medium-sized sea- or near land targets, is currently being developed by
Diehl BGT DefenceDiehl BGT Defence GmbH & Ko KG is a German arms manufacturer and a subsidiary of the Diehl Stiftung GmbH with headquarters in Überlingen. 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 NavyThe German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
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
RMK30RMK30 is a recoilless 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
RheinmetallRheinmetall AG is a German automotive and defense company with factories in Düsseldorf, Kassel and Unterlüß.-History:It was founded on 13 April 1889 by Heinrich Ehrhardt, with help from a consortium of banks, as Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft.It has a long tradition...
, 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 UAVsEMT 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...
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
numberIn the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
|
Name |
Laid
down |
Launched |
Commissioned |
| Germany The German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
|
S181 |
| |
20 March 2002 |
19 October 2005 |
Italy"Italian Navy" redirects here. For other uses, see Italian Navy Marina Militare is one of the four branches of the military forces of Italy...
|
S526 |
| 3 July 1999 |
6 November 2003 |
29 March 2006 |
| Germany The German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
|
S182 |
| |
4 December 2003 |
19 October 2005 |
| Germany The German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
|
S183 |
| |
September 2004 |
13 June 2006 |
Italy"Italian Navy" redirects here. For other uses, see Italian Navy Marina Militare is one of the four branches of the military forces of Italy...
|
S527 |
| 27 May 2000 |
18 December 2004 |
19 February 2007 |
| Israel |
unkonwn |
| |
|
29 September 2009 |
| Israel |
unkonwn |
| |
|
29 September 2009 |
| Germany The German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
|
S184 |
| |
July 2006 |
3 May 2007 |
| Germany The German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
|
S185 |
| 21 August 2007 |
|
planned for 2011 |
| Germany The German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
|
S186 |
| |
|
planned for 2012 |
Italy"Italian Navy" redirects here. For other uses, see Italian Navy Marina Militare is one of the four branches of the military forces of Italy...
|
S528 |
|
|
|
planned for 2013 |
Italy"Italian Navy" redirects here. For other uses, see Italian Navy Marina Militare is one of the four branches of the military forces of Italy...
|
S529 |
|
|
|
planned for 2014 |
General characteristics
- Displacement: 1'450 tonne
A tonne or metric ton , also referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to , or approximately the mass of one cubic metre of water. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI...
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 GmbH is a manufacturer of commercial engines. It was a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler until 2006 when it was sold off to the EQT IV private equity fund. Roughly translated from the German, MTU stands for "Engine and Turbine Union".-History:...
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
An electric motor uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy, usually through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors. The reverse process, producing electrical energy from mechanical energy, is accomplished by a generator or dynamo. Traction motors used on...
1700 kW, driving a single seven-bladed skewback propeller
- Speed: 20 knots
The knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, which is equal to exactly 1.852 km/h and approximately 1.151 mph. The abbreviation kn is preferred by American and Canadian maritime authorities, and by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; however, the...
(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
A submarine snorkel is a device that allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. It was invented by the Dutch 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
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 torpedoThe 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 to a target...
es or 24 tube mines
- IDAS missiles
For other uses, see Idas .IDAS is a short-range missile currently being developed for the new Type 212 submarine class of the German Navy....
- 24 external 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
A countermeasure is a system designed to prevent sensor-based weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target....
s:
- Torpedo defence system Tau, 4 launchers, 40 jammer
Jamming may mean:* Interfering with communications or surveillance:** Radio jamming** Radar jamming and deception** Mobile phone jammer** E-mail jamming* Jamming , cheered show-offs during social dancing...
s/decoyA decoy is usually a person, device 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.The decoy in war may for example be a...
s
- Sensors:
- STN Atlas
STN ATLAS Elektronik GmbH was a German defence company, producing sensors and other electronic or computer components such as Radar, Sonar, fire-control systems, simulations....
DBQS40 sonarSonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels. There are two kinds of sonar: active and passive. Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location and of measurement of the echo characteristics of "targets" in the water...
suite:
- TAS-3 passive low-frequency 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 5000 m, with hydrophones that is trailed behind the ship when deployed. The hydrophones are placed at specific distances along the cable...
(deployed from sail)
- FAS-3 passive low-, and medium-frequency hull-mounted flank array sonar
- MOA 3070 mine detection sonar
- 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 at 45 degree angle....
s:
- Carl Zeiss SERO 14, with FLIR and optical 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
A submarine snorkel is a device that allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. It was invented by the Dutch shortly before World War II and copied by the Germans during the war for use by U-Boats...
- Kelvin Hughes
Kelvin 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 bandThe I band is the range of radio frequencies from 8 GHz to 10 GHz in the electromagnetic spectrum. This is equal to wave lengths between 3.75 cm and 3 cm...
navigation radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic 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. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
- EADS
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on 10 July 2000 of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG of Germany, Aérospatiale-Matra of France, and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA of Spain...
FL 1800U ESMIn 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...
suite
- 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. Despite the small size of the village there is a shop and a pub, the Wombwell Arms. It is nestled at the foot of Wass Bank and...
hydrophoneNot to be confused with hydraulophone, a musical instrument.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
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 are sometimes also called by this...
and hydraulic systems
- Kongsberg
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