The Norwegian navy currently operates a fleet of six Type 210 Ula-class SSKs. Norway plans to replace them with up to six Type 212CD boats. The first Type 212CD is scheduled for delivery in 2029, with the remaining boats following through the mid-2030s.
The new boats are being procured through a strategic collaboration with Germany, signed in 2017, to develop a bilateral submarine programme. This programme was the first step in the development of a broader bilateral defence and security partnership, for which a formal agreement was signed in 2023.
The RNoN planned originally to replace the six Ulas with four Type 212CDs. However, increasing insecurity across the Euro-Atlantic theatre, and especially the intensifying underwater challenge for the RNoN in its regional waters (including the Norwegian and Barents seas, and the High North), prompted Norway’s Chief of Defence General Eirik Kristoffersen to call, in his ‘2023 Military Advice of the Chief of Defence’ statement, for six new submarines to be procured. In April 2024, the Norwegian government reiterated this position, proposing to Norway’s Parliament the procurement of “at least five new submarines”, within a long-term defence capability development plan running out to 2036.
The Type 212CD will bring timely new capabilities to bolster RNoN capacity to respond to underwater threats. A particularly important capability is AIP.
“That’s the main game-changer with the new class,” the CO of Ula-class boat HNoMS Utvaer told Naval News in late April, during an interview onboard in Stavanger, southwestern Norway. Utvaer was preparing for ‘Dynamic Mongoose’, NATO Allied Maritime Command’s (MARCOM’s) annual, North Atlantic-based anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise, which ran for two weeks from 29 April in waters between Norway and Iceland.
“The huge advantage going forward is AIP,”
CO of Ula-class submarine HNoMS Utvaer
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.
“When you have AIP, you will ‘snort’ less,”
“It brings some of the nuclear-powered attack submarine advantages into diesel boats.”
Another boat that participated in ‘Dynamic Mongoose’ demonstrates the benefits AIP brings. The Royal Swedish Navy’s Gotland-class SSKs are fitted with the Stirling fuel-cell AIP system. The CO of HSwMS Gotland told Naval News that operating the AIP system on patrol means the boat does not need to snort for several weeks.
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.
The Ula-class boats have maintained their capability through regular upgrades series, including annual maintenance availabilities and more significant work periods. This creates a cycle of continuous capability upgrades to meet necessary requirements. The boats have, for example, received new sonars, plus new multi-function consoles in the command and information control (CIC). Regular updates provide the boats with renewed capability to have operational impact. “Utvaer is an old submarine, but it’s still a highly potent platform,” said the CO. “It’s been updated well.” For example, RNoN submarines need advanced navigation capabilities in their operating area, so require good, new navigation equipment.
The requirement to introduce new equipment to maintain operational impact mirrors the navy’s focus on maintaining operational availability across the Ula-class fleet. Despite the boats continuing to age and requiring increased maintenance, the navy has a robust process for getting work done to maintain material readiness across the fleet. “We still have a pretty high number of available submarines,” the CO said.
During annual maintenance, a standard maintenance set is worked through, alongside a specific maintenance set requested by the crews. The maintainers will prioritise what needs to be done – but the top priority is getting the boat back out on time, the CO explained. “The maintenance plans and upgrade plans have been very well conducted over the years. I think that’s why we can prolong the life of the Ulas,” he added.
