Europe will follow Japan in converting shock submarines to lithium batteries
The European Interdepartmental Organization for Joint Armaments Cooperation (OCCAR) has announced that the Italian U212 NFS submarine project has been successfully tested at the system level. A distinctive feature of U212 NFS will be the use of only battery power based on lithium batteries.
Japan was the first to produce diesel submarines with lithium batteries on a regular basis. Two submarines of the previous generation have been adopted and another new generation will be adopted this year.
The Italian Fincantieri U212 NFS project should introduce a fully electric submarine in the future, for which seven masts (plus one optional one) are provided in the superstructure of the submarine for charging onboard batteries.
The basis of the shock multi-purpose submarine U212 NFS is the Italian project U212A. For the new project, the outer hull was extended by 1.2 meters and the design of the surface part (sails) was changed. The total length of U212 NFS will be 59 meters with a surface capacity of about 1,600 tons. The contours are also modified to reduce noise from traffic.
Long-range cruise missiles will be used as weapons. However, the project has yet to pass the stage of critical analysis, after which we can talk about the production of prototypes.
