WORLD SUBMARINE DEVELOPMENTS

(A compilation of submarine related news from around the world compiled by the Editor, STARSHELL from the pages of "Jane's Defence Week", "Navy International", "International Defence Review" and "Sea Power")

CANADA

In an article in the 7 May 1997 edition of "Jane's Defence Week", Sharon Hobson reports on the latest in the ongoing Upholdersaga. The text of the article is as follows:

"Canadian Defence Minister Douglas Young says he has not accepted the UK's offer of former Royal Navy Upholder class submarines because four may not be enough. He said his government would make a decision on the submarine offer by the end of the year. He said the delay is due to the question of whether four submarines can patrol three oceans.

Canada has three Oberon class submarines, all based in Halifax on the Atlantic. The UK is offering Ottawa its four Upholders for approximately $600 million ... plus the use of Canadian army and air force training facilities. The submarines were withdrawn almost immediately on commissioning from RN service because of force cuts.

If Canada accepts the offer, the navy will base three submarines in Halifax and one in Esquimalt on the Pacific. The navy plans to retrofit the boats with an air-independent propulsion system so that they will be able to patrol off Canada's Arctic coast.

Due to the amount of ocean that the Canadian Navy has to patrol, Young said, "I'd be happier if someone told me to take 10 [submarines]." It is unclear how the minister's remarks should be interpreted because it is highly unlikely that the government would consider buying 10 new submarines.

Cdr Doug Hales of the Director-General Maritime Development office, says the navy is addressing the minister's concerns by planning for six trained crews for the four Upholders. That will allow three submarines to operate most of the time: one submarine on each coast at high readiness and another on the east coast at normal readiness.

Not everyone believes that Young's remarks necessarily show strong support for maintaining or expanding Canada's submarine capabilities. Eldon Healey, president of the Canadian Defence Preparedness Association, believes the question "caught the minister off guard" causing him to respond in a provocative manner. In his answer, however, Young also said that "the negotiations are not over by a long shot".

The Upholders are part of a package that the UK is also discussing with the South African government."

Go figure!

INDIA

India will acquire two more 'Kilo' class (Project 636) submarines from Russia. The procurement, will sustain the strength of the Indian Navy's submarine flotilla and is seen as a response to Pakistan's acquisition of three French-built Agosta 90B submarines equipped with SM 39 Exocet anti-ship missiles.

India's submarine force consists of eight earlier 'Kilo' class boats, four German designed Type 1500 boats and six ageing 'Foxtrot' class. The 'Foxtrot' boats are all due to pay off by 2000.

The first "Kilo" would be commissioned later this year. A second will follow by the end of 1998. Designed by the Rubin Central Marine Design Bureau, the Project 636 is an enhanced version of the original Project 877 'Kilo' design featuring improved quietening technology.

Speculation that India could once again purchase HDW-built submarines was heightened by the recent visit of German defence minister Volker Ruhe to New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart.

The Indian government has issued a letter of intent to Mazagon docks (MDL) in Bombay to build two submarines.

The Ministry of Defence informed parliament recently that the order for two boats would resuscitate Mazagon's submarine-building facilities, which have been lying idle since INS Shankul,the second HDW Type 1500 conventional submarine was assembled there in 1994.

Officials said the two locally built submarines would be ready by 2003-2005, but declined to say whether they would be Russian or German designs. Both designs are in service with the Indian Navy.

India's submarine-building facility at Mazagon was created in the mid-1980s following the purchase of four Type 1500 boats from Germany.

Two of them were outright purchases, another two were built indigenously while the contract for two more was suspended after an inquiry into alleged illegal payoffs to Indian politicians and officials who negotiated the deal.

Meanwhile, the report by the all-party Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence urged the government to "expeditiously" import two Type 636 'Kilo' class submarines from Russia to sustain projected force levels.

MOD sources said negotiations with Moscow for the two submarines were nearing completion with the first boat scheduled to be commissioned later this year and the second next year.

The parliamentary report also wanted the navy to exploit Mazagon's expertise in building submarines, created at great cost, and warned that if fresh orders were not executed, it would be dissipated.

The decision to build two more submarines has been welcomed by the navy, because seven of their 19 submarines are retiring by 2000.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan's naval chief Mansur-ul Haq has resigned his post amid allegations of corruption in connection with the $90 million purchase of three French-made Agosta 90-B submarines when Benazir Bhutto was in office.

The current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is reported to have demanded that the navy chief step down, the first occasion that a civilian leader has ordered the resignation of a military officer in Pakistan's 50-year history.

The last time a naval chief resigned was in 1959, when the military-dominated government ignored his advice on naval policy.

INDONESIA

Indonesia intends to buy five second-hand Type 206 class diesel-electric submarines from Germany at an undisclosed cost, the German defence ministry has announced.

The submarines are among 17 built for the West German Navy in the early 1970s. Twelve underwent extensive upgrades over the period 1987-92 to Type 206A standard, and the remaining five are scheduled for retirement in the next 18 months.

It is unclear whether the five boats will undergo upgrades in Germany before delivery or whether some sort of modernisation programme will be implemented locally.

Indonesia had planned to upgrade the 39 ex-East German warships obtained from Bonn in 1993 at local shipyards, but the massive programme was scaled down due to financial constraints.

The Type 206 SSK has a displacement of 450 tonnes surfaced and 498 tonnes dived with a range of 4,500 nm at 5 kt surfaced. It has a complement of 22 and carries 8 to 21 533 mm torpedoes and two external containers each holding 12 mines.

The Indonesian Navy is currently operating two German-built Type 209 class diesel-electric submarines, each displacing 1,285 tonnes surfaced and 1,390 tonnes dived with a complement of 34 and range of 8,200 nm at 8 kt.

RUSSIA

The lead unit of Russia's fourth generation ballistic missile submarine could reach initial operational capability by 2004, according to 'Worldwide Submarine Challenges,' the annual assessment by the US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI).

The SSBN project known as Borey (Arctic Wind) was laid down on 2 November last year at the Severodvinsk Shipyard, with the goal of launching it by 2002. The boat is to be outfitted with the SS-NX-28 missile which is in land-based R&D.

However, the assessment warned that the Borey project could cost "trillions of roubles".

The eleventh unit of the 'Oscar II' SSGN class, the Tomsk, was rolled out in July despite irregular materiel and component delivery problems, the ONI said. The final unit remains under construction.

The Severodvinsk SSN is designated to replace the 'Oscar II' and the Akula (Typhoon) classes. The ONI said publicly for the first time that a key design feature is the placement of the torpedo room amid ships: "This new placement allows a large spherical sonar to be placed in the bow, thereby maximising the sensor's performance."

The Severodvinsk's radiated noise levels will be lower than those of the Akula II.

The new Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering Project 'Amur 1650', a fourth-generation diesel electric submarine, will be developed as a multi-mission family of submarines for export.

They will be capable of anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, minelaying and special forces deployment.

The boat will be smaller than the 'Kilo' class and generally configured for specifications of particular export customers. Measuring 67 metres in length and 7.2 metres wide, it will be outfitted with six torpedo tubes. Its 16 weapons will comprise a mix of torpedoes and torpedo-tube launched missiles. It will include an anechoic tile coating on the outer hull and a skewed 7-blade propeller. The vessel's surface speed will be 10 kt; submerged 21 kt. The submerged cruising range using economic speed is 500 nautical miles at 3 kt. The maximum diving depth is 250 m, with an endurance of 45 days with a crew of 34.

The Amur class will also include a fuel cell plant that can be installed during construction or modernisation to give air independent propulsion with oxygen/hydrogen and electric/ chemical generators. This can be installed on customer request.

The Rubin Agency began work on the first Amur this year with availability planned for 2001. Rubin officials also confirmed that the final Type 877 'Kilo' will be completed this year.

UK

The UK Ministry of Defence has signed a £2 billion contract with GEC-Marconi for the first three of a new generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN) for the Royal Navy.

The new class will cruise faster, further and be more difficult to detect than the Trafalgar class, according to a senior Ministry of Defence official. "She is designed to be much quieter and it is being designed to detect the new [Russian] Akula II," he said.

Previously known as the Batch 2 Trafalgar class the new submarines will be named the Astute class. The submarines will be armed with Spearfish torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Tomahawk land attack missiles. A total of 36 weapons can be carried for launch from the SSN's five torpedo tubes.

The contract covers the design and construction of the submarines, and four and a half years of in-service support. The submarines will be built at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard of GEC-Marconi subsidiary Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (VSEL). MOD(UK) officials said the GEC-Marconi design was selected in December 1995 because it was "more innovative" and offered better value for money.

The lead submarine, HMS Astute, is expected to be commissioned in 2005 and will be followed by HMS Ambush and HMS Artful. They will replace the oldest of the five Swiftsure class SSNs commissioned between 1974 and 1981.

To maintain the RN's fleet of 12 SSNs, there are plans for two more Astute class submarines to be ordered after 2000. If these are ordered this will bring the total programme cost "toward £3 billion".

The design of the 6,000 ton submarines is an evolution of the 4,700 ton Trafalgar class but powered by the Rolls-Royce PWR 2 nuclear reactor developed for the navy's new Vanguard class of nuclear ballistic missile submarines. The reactor cores will not need to be refuelled during the expected 25 to 30-year life of the submarines. Reactors on earlier classes of submarines need to be refuelled every 10 years.

Although bigger the new submarines will have a crew of about 100, 30 less than the complement of the Trafalgar class. However, in a throwback to the original 'A' boats, 18 crew members working in shifts, will have to share bunks ("hot-bunking"). Because of this it was decided it would be inappropriate to design accommodation to allow women to serve on the new submarines.

AUSTRALIA

The third Collins class submarine built for the Royal Australian Navy, Waller, was launched on 14 March at the partly Swedish-owned Australian Submarine Corp (ASC) shipyard in Adelaide in the presence of the new Swedish Minister of Defence, Bjoern von Sydow.

The second Collins class submarine, Farncomb, is currently on builder's trials and will be handed over to the RAN in July or August. At the end of this year, first-of-class HMAS Collins will return to ASC for a six-month post-delivery availability (PDA).

During the PDA, the initial combat system capability software will be installed which "approximates the Oberon class capability", said Adm Peter Purcell, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff for Materiel. According to Adm Purcell "in some areas Collins already hugely outperforms the Oberons, particularly in sonar performance, tactical data handling, navigation, communications and hydrodynamic performance".

However, he added that integration of all subsystems was the hard part, and that would only be fully achieved with the contracted combat system software. Also, the acquisition of new heavyweight torpedoes to replace the current Mk 48 Mod. 4 weapons would enhance Collins capability.

CHINA

The ONI assessment mentioned above also noted that China continues to proceed with the design of the Type 094 next-generation SSBN.

The Type 094, to be built in the next century, will carry the JL-2 ballistic missile with a 4,000 nm range. "When deployed, this missile will allow Chinese SSBNs to target portions of the United States for the first time from operating areas located near the Chinese coast."

It is "expected to be a dramatic improvement over the sole Xia class SSBN, with improved quieting and sensor systems, and a more reliable propulsion system," the report said.

On China's submarine development programmes, the ONI report said that a new SSN being designed will be similar to Russian second generation designs such as the 'Victor III'.

Known as Type 093, the launch of the initial Chinese unit from the Bohai Shipyard is expected in three years. Like the Song SSK, it is expected to deploy submerged-launch anti-ship cruise missiles, possibly a follow-on to the C801s.

The ONI also confirmed that the Song incorporates a hydrodynamically efficient hull form, a single shaft and a highly skewed 7-bladed propeller.

The report also gave more details on the attempted infiltration of South Korea by a North Korean Sang-O in September last year--for which the North Korean Government later expressed "deep regret". The ONI confirmed the submarine was assigned to the North Korean Reconnaissance Bureau and was conducting reconnaissance against Kangnung Air Base.

It submerged 5 nm north of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) on 14 September, arriving at an infiltration site 60 nm south of the DMZ. The reconnaissance team disembarked through a diver lock-out chamber.

The boat went aground when it attempted to recover the team three days later. The crew set a fire to destroy equipment and most of the North Koreans were either killed by the insertion team or South Korean forces.

The Special Operations Forces insertion design of the Sang-O has five watertight compartments. It can carry up to 30 personnel. It also has hard points where special operations equipment or naval mines can be attached.

CROATIA

More details of Croatia's modified MD-100 Una class midget submarine Velebit (001) have emerged. Formally commissioned into the Croatian Navy (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica--HRM) on 12 October last year, Velebit had earlier participated in Exercise 'Leech 96'--conducted in the southern Adriatic during mid-1996--operating with members of the recently formed 352nd Commando-Diving Battalion.

Primarily employed as a marine diver delivery vehicle, Velebit has a crew of six with payload space for four divers or mines. Displacing 76 tonnes surfaced (88 tonnes submerged), the boat is 18.8 m long. Range is 200 nm (370 km) at 4kt. Surfaced speed is 6 kt, rising to 8 kt when submerged.

HRM also deploys a number of R-2 Mala class two-man submersibles. Armed with up to 250 kg of limpet mines, they are intended for use in diversionary attacks against anchored shipping. The R-2 is 4.9 m in length and displaces 1.4 tonnes. The design has a maximum speed of little more than 4 kt and a range of 18 nm.

HOW MANY ARE THERE?

Statistics can be misleading, especially when it comes to counting submarines and this made me curious. Depending on how one counts, there are some 475 conventional--or non-nuclear powered--submarines in the world-wide inventory including about 90 midget submarines. If this total number is reduced to reflect only those boats which can be classed as truly operational and currently in commission, the total is closer to 450. Even then, some of the inventory is in operational reserve (e.g. the British Upholder boats do not show in the RN order of battle as they are up for disposal) and some of the "midget" submarines can only carry swimmers as their weapon load. Nevertheless, the total is still around the 400 mark and is not likely to increase significantly as many navies replace old boats on more or less a one-for-one basis. The table on the following pages is my view of the situation.

On the other hand, while the overall number may reduce eventually, what is significant is the quality of the capability which remains. The ubiquitous German 209 type, in many variants, is a small, capable submarine which is very hard to detect. Many navies are now, or have completed, upgrading combat and weapons systems in their submarines. It is thus somewhat misleading to simply look at data. Such submarines may appear to be old on paper but the capability is very up to date in reality. Even our own Oberons have excellent combat capabilities. Unfortunately, their hulls cannot keep pace with their electronics.

WORLD-WIDE INVENTORY OF DIESEL SUBMARINES