The Type 212A is a class of diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) for the German Navy, and the Italian Navy where it is known as the Todaro class. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion (AIP) system using Siemens proton-exchange membrane (PEM) compressed hydrogen fuel cells. The submarines 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 with little exhaust heat. The system is also said to be vibration-free and virtually undetectable.
The Kilo-class submarines are a group of diesel-electric attack submarines designed by the Rubin Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and built originally for the Soviet Navy.
Air-independent propulsion (AIP), or air-independent power, is any marine propulsion technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen. AIP can augment or replace the diesel-electric propulsion system of non-nuclear vessels.
Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in Saint Petersburg is the largest of Russia's three main centers of submarine design, the other two being Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau and Lazurit Central Design Bureau. Rubin has designed more than two-thirds of the nuclear submarines in the Russian Navy. "Rubin" is the Russian word for ruby.
Lada class, Russian designation Project 677 Lada is the new advanced class of diesel-electric attack submarine designed by the Russian Rubin Design Bureau. A program to develop a "fourth generation" diesel-electric submarine, it aimed to produce a highly improved version of the Project 636 with better acoustic signature, new combat systems and possibly air-independent propulsion. However, in 2019, Alexander Buzakov, the head of the Admiralty Shipyard, indicated that there were no plans to equip the Lada class with an air-independent propulsion system. In July 2022 it was reported that work on an electrochemical generator to produce hydrogen from diesel fuel and oxygen was continuing and that the Rubin Central Design Bureau signed a new contract in 2019 to continue work. This was scheduled to be completed by the mid-2020s. In 2023, the decision was taken to decommission and scrap the lead ship of the class, the Sankt Peterburg due to the very high costs of modernising the submarine.
The Borei class, alternate transliteration Borey, Russian designation Project 955 Borei and Project 955A Borei-A, are a series of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines being constructed by Sevmash for the Russian Navy. The class has been replacing the steadily retiring Russian Navy Delta III and Delta IV classes and fully retired Typhoon, all three classes being Soviet-era submarines.
The Type 039A submarine is a class of diesel-electric submarine in China's People's Liberation Army Navy. It is China's first AIP powered submarine and presumed to be one of the quietest diesel-electric submarine classes in service. This class is the successor of the Type 039 submarine. The official Chinese designation is 039A as the ship is based on the 039 class, but as the 039A has very little resemblance to the 039 it is commonly referred to as the Type 041. The class is designed to replace the aging Type 033 and the older Type 035 submarines that previously formed the backbone of the conventional submarine force.
The Steregushchiy class, Russian designation Project 20380, is a class of corvettes being built for the Russian Navy. Designed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, subsequent vessels were built to an improved design, incorporating the Zaslon-Redut SAM system. The ship full displacement and dimensions are large for a corvette, thus it is designated as a frigate by NATO. The Steregushchiy class has been further developed into the Gremyashchiy class and Project 20386 subclasses. The export variant is known as Project 20382 Tigr.
The S1000-class submarine was a joint development by Russia and Italy, said to be an advanced version of the Amur-class submarine. The joint development was between Rubin Design Bureau of Russia and Fincantieri of Italy. The project was suspended in 2014.
The People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force (PLANSF) is the submarine service of the People's Liberation Army Navy. It consists of all types of submarines in operational service organized into three fleets: the North Sea Fleet, the East Sea Fleet, and the South Sea Fleet. Submarines have long been one of the three focuses of the People's Liberation Army Navy, and when the decision was made in late 2006 to concentrate on building other principal surface combatants to strengthen the air defense and to further delay the construction of aircraft carriers due to insufficient air cover, submarines will continue to play the lead dominant role in the assault force for the PLAN. Currently, PLANSF operates a fleet of 66 submarines which include nuclear as well as conventional submarines.
B-90 Sarov also referred to as Sarov class, Russian designation Project 20120 Sargan, is a Russian special purpose diesel-electric submarine that uses a nuclear reactor as a supplementary power generator. The existence of the submarine was first revealed in 2007, when details about the boat were accidentally published on the Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod region's local government website as part of an account of a meeting with its commander. It serves in the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet and is being used as a technology demonstrator for testing of upgraded weapons and military equipment or as an intelligence collection boat.
The Admiral Gorshkov class is a class of frigates of the Russian Navy. The ships are being built by the Severnaya Verf in Saint Petersburg at a cost of $250 million per ship. The class, designated by Russia as Project 22350, was designed by the Severnoye Design Bureau and incorporates use of stealth technology. As of August 2020, ten vessels have been ordered for delivery by 2027. The lead ship of the class, Admiral Gorshkov, was commissioned on 28 July 2018.
The S-80 Plus class is a Spanish class of four submarines being built by the state-owned Spanish company Navantia at its Cartagena shipyard for the Spanish Navy. In common with other contemporary submarines, they feature air-independent propulsion.
B-585 Sankt Peterburg is the lead boat of the Lada-class submarines of the Russian Navy. The Lada class is the fourth generation of diesel-electric submarines designed and constructed in the former Soviet Union and Russia to replace the Kilo class. Construction of the boat started in December 1997, and she was launched in October 2004. After undergoing a series of sea trials, Sankt Peterburg was commissioned in May 2010. However, the Russian Navy decided not to accept the St. Petersburg class after it was discovered that the boat's propulsion and sonar systems were inadequate. After design corrections the submarine was accepted. In 2014, Sankt Peterburg joined the Northern Fleet. In 2023, it was reported that due to the extremely high costs of modernising the submarine, the Sankt Peterburg was to be decommissioned and scrapped, with the funds being diverted to new submarine construction.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the Russian Navy struggled to adjust Cold War force structures while suffering severely with insufficient maintenance and a lack of funding. However, improvements in the Russian economy over the first decade of the twenty-first century led to a significant rise in defence expenditure and an increase in the number of ships under construction.
Project-75 (India), simply referred to as the P-75(I) program, is a military acquisition initiative affiliated to India's Ministry of Defence (MoD), aimed at the planned procurement of diesel-electric submarines for the Indian Navy (IN). Originally conceived in 1997, the initiative's objective has been to procure a class of six conventionally-powered attack submarines for the Indian Navy Submarine Arm, as a replacement for the force's Sindhughosh-class submarines.
The KSS-III or Dosan Ahn Changho-class is a series of diesel-electric attack submarines currently being built for the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN), jointly by Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). The KSS-III is the final phase of the Korean Attack Submarine program, a three-phased program to build 27 attack submarines for the ROKN, between 1994–2029.
The Arcturus class is a planned future replacement for the Russian Borei class of ballistic missile submarines. It was announced in 2022 and is designed by Rubin Design Bureau.
Russian Navy