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.
The FREMM, which stands for "European multi-purpose frigate", is a Franco-Italian family of multi-purpose frigates designed by Naval Group and Fincantieri. In France, this surface combatant is known as the "Aquitaine class", while in Italy it is known as the "Bergamini class". The lead ship of the class, Aquitaine, was commissioned in November 2012 by the French Navy. Italy has ordered six general purpose and four anti-submarine variants. France, on the other hand, has ordered six anti-submarine variants and two air-defense ones.
Zaporizhzhia (U-01) is a project 641 (Foxtrot-class) diesel-electric powered submarine, and was the only submarine of the Ukrainian Navy up until her seizure in March 2014 by Russian forces during 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. She formerly carried the Soviet Navy pennant number B-435. Zaporizhzhia was designed at the Rubin Design Bureau.
The Type 214 is a class of diesel-electric submarines developed exclusively for export by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW). It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cells. The class combines the design principles of the Type 209 submarine family and the features of the Type 212A submarine. However, as an export design, it lacks some of the classified technologies of the Type 212 such as the non-magnetic steel hull that makes it difficult to detect using a magnetic anomaly detector.
The Scorpène-class submarines are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines jointly developed by the French Naval Group and the Spanish company Navantia. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion (AIP). It is now marketed as the Scorpène 2000.
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 Amur-class submarine, is one of the latest Russian submarine designs. It is advertised as an export version of the Lada class, a modernized version of the Kilo-class submarine with improved acoustic stealth, new combat systems, and an option for air-independent propulsion (AIP).
The Sōryū-class submarines (16SS) are diesel-electric attack submarines. The first boat in the class entered service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in 2009. The design is an evolution of the Oyashio-class submarine, from which it can most easily be distinguished by its X-shaped stern combination diving planes and rudders. The Sōryūs have the largest displacement of any submarine used by post-war Japan.
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.
The Type 216 is a submarine design concept announced by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft based on the Type 212/214.
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.
Project Kalina is a proposed fifth-generation diesel-electric submarine currently being developed by TsKB Rubin and others, for the Russian Navy. It will be fitted with air-independent propulsion technology, and copies may also be sold to China.
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 Taigei-class submarines (29SS) (Japanese: たいげい, "Big Whale") is a new class of attack submarines after 2022, developed for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. It is the successor to the Sōryū class.
The Hangor-class submarines are a class of diesel–electric attack submarines currently being manufactured by a joint-partnership of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) for the Pakistan Navy (PN). Eponymously christened after the former-Daphné-class submarines that the PN operated between 1970 and 2006, the class is an export derivative of the Chinese-origin Type 039A/041 attack submarine, currently operated by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). First unveiled to the public in 2018, the future submarines are envisaged to undertake anti-access/area denial operations within Pakistan's exclusive economic zone, through the use of heavyweight torpedoes and anti-ship cruising missiles.
