The submarine that "disappears" — Germany's Type 212/214 pioneered near-silent hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion, letting a non-nuclear boat stay submerged for weeks and slip past sonar so well it has "sunk" carriers in NATO war games. The world's benchmark export AIP submarine.
Berlin killed its largest warship program since World War II over cost and delay, choosing eight smaller TKMS frigates for NATO submarine-hunting and repricing the naval premium Rheinmetall paid €1.5 billion to build.
Germany's pioneering fuel-cell AIP attack submarine — the ultra-quiet Type 212A, now evolving into the larger Type 212CD for North Atlantic/Arctic operations, operated by Germany, Italy and (on order) Norway.