Submarine & Other Matters

I publish analysis about subs, other naval matters, nuclear weapons and broad political issues. Unlike most advanced countries Australian submarine changes are very slow. The first Collins LOTE may be limited to optronic masts (?) and only ready in 2030 (?). Triumphant Trump may decide to cancel Biden's "Democrat" AUKUS Virginia offer because the US Navy needs all operational SSNs right through to the 2040s. My colleagues Shawn C and Gessler are excellent writers. Pete

June 19, 2016

New Coatings, Possible LIBs, for Italy's Next Todaro Class / Type 212As

Italy's Todaro Class (right-click mouse then "Translate to English")

Pennant number	Name	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned
S526	Salvatore Todaro	3 July 1999	6 November 2003	29 March 2006
S527	Scirè	27 May 2000	18 December 2004	19 February 2007
S528	Pietro Venuti	9 December 2009	9 October 2014	planned for August 2016
S529	Romeo Romei	2012	4 July 2015	planned for late 2016 (to 2018)
S530	With LIBs?			planned
S531	LIBs?			planned

A snippet from Undersea Defence Technology - UDT 2016 Oslo (Norway) June 1 to 3, 2016. The Italian Navy is planning new coatings for existing Fincantieri - Muggiano built Todaro Class / 212A design submarines and may even install Lithium-ion Batteries on future Todaros.

Upgrades likely shared with the Germany Navy's current/future TKMS Type 212As include a new plastic anechoic coating for the submarine hull and sail. At the UDT 2016 website it is described as a fluoropolymer coating. The coating can be retrofitted to the Italian Navy's 2 operational subs (Salvatore Todaro and Scirè) to the soon to be commissioned (Pietro Venuti and Romeo Romei).

The coating will be more resistant to biological agents sticking to it, easier to maintain, and permit lower fuel consumption (as much as 12% less) as it is smoother (more hydrodynamic) than other coatings especially at the quiet, economical patrol speed, likely 4 to 5 knots.

Although Italy has naval budget problems partlyy due to high expenditure searching for and picking up refugees crossing the Mediterranean, Italy may order two additional Todaros. It is possible that these two, operational in the 2020s, will have Lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs).

Also see the informative UDT 2016 seminar description, on June 3, 2016, presented by Mr Alexander Janke (Since 2013 he has been Project Manager Lithium-ion Battery System Development/Project Manager Battery Systems).

Pete

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hi Pete

A fluoropolymer is a fluorocarbon-based polymer with multiple strong carbon–fluorine bonds. It is characterized by a high resistance to solvents, acids, and bases (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoropolymer). Familiar example of fluoropolymer coating is the water-repellent finished fry pan. Teflon is a typical fluoropolymer which DuPont has developed.

Fluoropolymer has excellent properties such as low frictional resistance, low adhesion energy and high chemical resistance due to very stable C-F bond providing low friction, reduction in fouling by marine organisms and high chemical resistance, respectively. Weak point of fluorocarbon is its high price due to low abundance of Fluorine.

Technical challenge in this development seems to be coating on huge object like submarine. For example, uniform coating and annealing looks to be difficult.

From comparison prices of 27SS (Soryu class with LIBs) and 26 (Soryu class with LABs), LIBs is quite expensive (6times). Is Next Torao class with LIBs and fluoropolymer coating 20-30% more expensive than conventional 212A?.

Regards
S; 6/19/2016 10:19 PM
Anonymous said...: PTFE, aka Teflon, does not have good wear and abrasion resistance so I bet some % of fillers must have been added.

When a foreign boat arrives in Australia, at least this is true for pleasure boats, the bottom must be scrubbed clean at the previous port, for fear of invasive species. I wonder if they do the same for warships or submarines.
KQN; 6/19/2016 11:41 PM
Pete said...: Hi S

Thanks for the information on fluoropolymer. Sounds like it could be useful applying it to UUVs as well.

The possible Italian purchase of a 5th and 6th Todaro is still uncertain. Whether the 5th and 6th Todaros have LIBs will depend alot on TKMS (and other company) developing LIBs into a mature, reliable, safe technology.

Probably, at this stage, the extra cost of LIBs has not yet been fully researched by Germany or Italy.

Regards

Pete; 6/20/2016 11:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi Pete

Application of fluoropolymer to small sized UUVs is much easier than bigger submarine, may be applicable any day now.

German UUV, if it exists, may have one of highest potential abilities because of non-magnetic stainless steel for hull, fluoropolymer coating, matured fuel cell for low speed region, LIBs for high speed region, and silent eight blade non-skew propeller with Shroud and PBCF.

By the way difference between 27SS and 28SS was reported (SHIP OF THE WORLD, 2016, No.7). 28SS equips with the new sonar system.

Regards
S; 6/20/2016 1:34 PM
Pete said...: Hi S [at 20/6/16 1:34 PM]

Germany would certainly want to use such UUVs in the shallow Baltic Sea. Something to use against Russia.

Thanks for the update on 27SS and 28SS.

Regards

Pete; 6/21/2016 12:36 PM