Type 212

Germany's pioneering fuel-cell AIP attack submarine — ultra-quiet, non-magnetic, now evolving into the larger Type 212CD for North Atlantic/Arctic operations.

Overview

The Type 212, principally embodied in the in-service Type 212A (Todaro class in Italian service), is a compact diesel-electric attack submarine equipped with hydrogen fuel-cell air-independent propulsion (AIP). Designed by thyssenkrupp Marine Systems / HDW, it is optimised for long silent submerged operations in the confined, shallow waters of the Baltic, North Sea and Mediterranean, providing anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering and special forces support. Its non-magnetic steel hull and exceptionally quiet AIP plant made it, at its 2005 entry into service, one of the stealthiest conventional submarines ever fielded. The follow-on Type 212CD enlarges the design into a joint German–Norwegian common platform for North Atlantic and Arctic missions, with Norway ordering six boats and Germany two.

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