On April 4 South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries contractually delivered yet another submarine as part of an attack class program that started in 1994. This is the 21st submarine in a planned series of 27 SSKs that will make the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) an even more formidable force than it already is.
Named the Shin Chae-ho – after a nationalist scholar and author (1880-1936) known in particular for his resistance to Japanese occupation – the 3,500-tonne boat is among the world’s most advanced conventional diesel-electric submarines.
South Korea has been building submarines in tranches, and Shin Chae-ho is the final one in what is known as the KSS-III Batch 1 program. The even more advanced KSS-III Batch 2 boats are under construction and the first is on track to be delivered on schedule, in 2028 – though some sources say it might even be delivered two years earlier than that.
A final group of KSS-III Batch 3 submarines is being designed. These are expected to be even larger than Batch 1 & 2, which are already the western world’s biggest conventional submarines.
The six Batch 1 & 2 boats all have Vertical Launch Systems for a variety of land attack missiles, as well as six torpedo tubes. All have Air Independent Propulsion giving underwater endurance of +20 days – and the Batch 2 submarines will have improved performance using lithium-ion batteries rather than the lead-acid ones used in earlier generations, including those of KSS-III Batch 1.
For people still struggling with the concept of lithium-ion propulsion, don’t think of KSS-III Batch 2 submarines in outdated terms – think of them as an underwater Tesla that only needs to come close to the surface every three weeks for a quick recharge of its battery pack before silently submerging and continuing its mission.
In contrast, nuclear-powered submarines – such as the ones Australia is rather optimistically hoping to buy – are propelled by giant steam engines that rather than burning coal as a heat source instead use decaying highly enriched Uranium 235.
But getting back to the launch of Shin Chae-ho (SS-086), the ceremony was attended by representatives of nine nations, including Australia’s Director General Submarines, CDRE Michael Jacobson.
According to HHI, the submarine has been built with the latest fuel cell, lead-acid battery propulsion system, and state-of-the-art noise control technologies, boasting significantly improved covert mission capabilities and survivability.
The company says it can be armed with guided missiles, torpedoes, underwater mines, and can fire SLBMs (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) from its vertical launch system, making it a key asset for the marine based underwater kill chain system.
The Shin Chae-ho has gone through a 30-month test and evaluation period since its launch ceremony in September 2021. After being delivered to the ROK Navy, the submarine will go through force integration and join missions later in the year.
“I am glad to have this opportunity to share the excellence of our submarines, which have been delivered on time, with the world. We will continue to work with the Government as part of our ‘Team Korea’ effort to stay fully committed and make tangible results in K-defense exports.” said Wonho Joo, Senior Executive Vice President of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Naval & Special Ship Business Unit (NSSBU).
The RoK adopted a crawl-walk-run approach to the SSN project. KSS-I submarines used mainly German technology; KSS-II saw a transition to far greater use of Korean technologies – and the Batch 3 boats are almost entirely Korean. This has been the result of a 30-year cooperative strategy between local industry, the RoKN and the powerful Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
As well as the submarines themselves, most of the weapons, sensors and various subsystems are almost entirely Korean.
Coincidentally, the RoK and Australia both decided in the mid-1980s to embark on an ambitious whole-of-nation endeavour to develop an SSK fleet. At first, Australia sprinted ahead with the launch of the first Collins in 1993. Its specification was for the world’s quietest and most heavily armed conventional submarine, and after well-publicised teething problems – especially with the US combat system – it did indeed achieve those goals. Even today it represents a formidable, if ageing, capability.
But by the early 2000s the pathways diverged. In Australia a sort of torpor set in, encouraged by the nationalisation of the Australian Submarine Corporation at the start of the decade, turning it into an extension of the Department of Finance. The senior management of the company spent several years obsessing about its re-privatisation, which was on track to occur in 2009.
This effort was one of the few – possibly only – failures of then Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner. When the proposed sale of ASC was brought to Cabinet by Tanner for consideration – for which he was an enthusiastic advocate – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s national security advisor whispered to him “PM, the Americans won’t like that.” And that was that. And here we are today.
The program to replace Collins known as SEA 1000 – approved in the 2009 White Paper – spluttered and fizzled with a prolonged display of collective incompetence, first involving the purchase of submarines from Japan; then the French-designed retro technology Attack class; and now of course the disastrously expensive exercise to purchase nuclear-powered SSNs from the Anglosphere.
Meanwhile, South Korea ploughed on in their relentless, thorough, professional way – and indeed will have 24 SSKs on schedule by 2030 and the full complement of 27 a few years after that. With earlier submarines well into refit and upgrade programs, Korea has also managed to create an entire ecosystem centred on Hanwha Ocean and HHI with sales to Indonesia and potentially a number of other countries including Poland and Canada.
The contrast with Australia could not be starker.
(Disclaimer: Kym Bergmann travelled to Ulsan as a guest of HHI.)
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