Posted on 09/03/2014 9:38:23 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
With the Soryu-class submarine, Japan can compete with the best the global submarine market has to offer.
As Clint Richards noted earlier, it now appears likely that Japan will sell advanced Soryu-class submarines to Australia. In addition to strengthening the relationship between Australia and Japan, and making Australia’s submarine force considerably more lethal, this represents a major move by Japan into the global submarine market.
Germany, France, and Russia have long dominated the existing market for diesel-electric submarines. The German Type 209 submarine serves in over a dozen navies, with more than 60 boats currently in service. While the design stems from the 1960s, the newest boats entered service in the last decade. Germany’s successor, the Type 214, is scheduled for export to Greece and South Korea, but has suffered some setbacks. France has exported the Scorpene-class to Malaysia, Brazil, and India, and Russia continues to export its Kilo-class subs and Improved Kilos to a handful of countries, at least until Russian industry can work through the problems with the Lada-class.
The Japanese Soryus are extremely competitive with these boats. At 4,200 tons submerged, the Soryu-class is considerably larger than either the Type 214, Scorpene, or Improved Kilo, and can carry a much heavier weapons load. This size also makes them quieter and longer-ranged than the other boats on the market. At current price expectations of around $500 million, the Soryus are not wildly more expensive than the other boats.
The United States, of course, hasn’t had a piece of this market in decades, as no U.S. yards build diesel-electric subs. China has yet to begin exporting subs, although the increasing sophistication of Chinese designs may make this possible in the near future.
Shifting Japan’s defense industry to export will undoubtedly produce some teething troubles. One caveat is longevity. The JMSDF has historically only expected its subs to operate for about 20 years. Many export customers will expect a longer life from their boats, and Japanese industry will have to adjust accordingly with respect to equipment, repair, and spare part requirements. Unlike the Germans, French, and Russians, the Japanese have little experience with managing the long-term maintenance requirements of sophisticated weapon systems in foreign service. But given the strong reputation of Japanese industry, this shouldn’t be a big problem.
There’s no doubt that Germany, Russia, and France should worry about the position they currently hold in the global submarine market. Many of the Latin American navies have Type 209 boats that will require replacement sooner rather than later. The Soryu could also give Vietnam an alternative to the Improved Kilos Hanoi is buying from Russia. It doesn’t hurt that some of these large, long-ranged boats may go to countries that have problems with China. This solidifies Japan’s security relationship with these countries, while also improving the economic prospects of Japan’s defense industry.
If Japan can reliably produce the Soryu at a cost that is competitive with the latest German and French boats, it can capture a big part of that market, while also making the Western Pacific more dangerous for the PLAN. For Tokyo, this is a win-win.
We could easily be building that type of boat for export and our fleet. Is there anyone left with a brain at Fort Fumble?
I'd want to be looking for a different name for that class of ship.
but can it transform into a giant robot?
The pic shows a rather conventional looking shape. The sub I saw had a very unique angular look to it, almost like the fact design of a F117. Very strange and different after watching our subs transit the same channel. It rode a lot higher on the surface as well.
Never looked into the design of it, just enjoyed the incongruity of watching the Japanese flag flying atop a submarine coming into Pearl Harbor.
If Obama was CIC during WWII, the people West of the Mississippi would be speaking Japanese and the people East of the Mississippi would be speaking German, or is it Austrian?
I would think for nations interested primarily in coastal defense and defending their territorial waters, a conventional boat would be a better choice than a nuclear-powered one in many cases. A lot cheaper to build, probably a lot easier and less expensive to maintain. With the advent of high endurance AIP and other fuel cell technology replacing batteries as the submerged boat’s power source of choice, I also suspect that these boats could lurk very silently for very long periods of time.
I’m just an Armchair Admiral, of course. I could be wrong on all fronts here.
My first thought, also.
I hope they installed a top-of-the-line karaoke machine in the galley since the ladies will now be on board.
Israel has been ordering German subs for a while. Recently
Germany has held up deliveries to Israel. The problem seems to be that Germany wants to dictate Israeli domestic policy on new housing developements and goods made inside Israel.
A few months ago BiBi visited Japan for trade talks. I would not be surprised if like Gen. Al Sisi the Israelis were looking for a new source of military equipment as the Egyptians have since Obama wouldn’t sell them ordered helicopters.
Strained relations in Egypt over pulling the deliveries, now Germany playing games with their subs. Japan could well pick up a customer.
Well the USN turned the original Soryu into a submarine at Midway....
Some details from Wikipedia on the Soryu class:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%8Dry%C5%AB-class_submarine
Note the potential weapons load of 30 torpedoes or Harpoons.
As great as it sounds,
there are a couple of practical issues:
1) Japan and Israel have different maritime needs: The Soryu is a huge boat, weighing over twice the size of the Israeli Dolphins and with almost twice the crew. The Israelis will be hard-pressed to find/train enough personnel for it given the allocations for their navy.
2) For all the Germans say, they have subsidized the Dolphins they built for Israel to varying degrees. Will Japan do the same?
there's always Hiryu, Kaga, and Akagi.
“Soryu is the name of one of the Japanese carriers that took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The American Navy sunk her at the battle of Midway.”
That’d be like US Navy coming out with an Edsel class.
Tailplane design is different as well.
The U.S. sub fleet is built for global force projection, which requires nuclear powered subs. None of the shipyards have the technical expertise required to build AIP subs. It's not as simple as taking a nuke sub hull and swapping out powerplants.
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