Compared to the in-service Ulas, the Type 212CDs’ fuel-cell AIP capability will reduce the boats’ need to ‘snort’ at periscope depth to take onboard oxygen to drive its electric batteries. Thus, it will change the way a CO thinks about fighting the boat.
“The vulnerable situation is when a submarine is at periscope depth. ‘Snorting’ is noisy and is visible from the air,” the CO added. So, the act of ‘snorting’ can increase an SSK’s vulnerability to air, surface, and sub-surface threats.
Introducing new technology like AIP to improve underwater stealth reflects the RNoN’s wider focus on providing the most capable boats operating in its region, including maximising their ability to stay hidden. For the RNoN, the Ulas’ relatively small size – with the 59 m by 5.4 m hull displacing only 1,150 tonnes when dived – is a key advantage in its area of operations, Utvaer’s CO said. “The smaller the better. The main objective is not to be seen,” he continued. “If you are small and silent, you are hard to find.”
For the RNoN, the Type 212CDs’ arrival also enables consideration of other capability options for the submarine fleet. One such option is strike capability, in the form of the Kongsberg anti-ship/land-attack Naval Strike Missile (NSM), adapted for underwater operations. The Ula-class boats do not carry a strike capability.
Nevertheless, their underwater punch is considerable. The boats can carry up to 14 weapons, fired via eight torpedo tubes: the weapon of choice is the Atlas Elektronik DM2A3 Sea Hake heavyweight torpedo. For the CO, this capability is the most important system onboard: “Without the torpedoes, we are nothing,” he said.
