Naval Group's and TKMS' Submarine LIBs May Be At Very Early Stage

In the context of the Paris based Euronaval 2018 arms show Naval Group announced un-assessable progress in Lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs) for submarine. This falls short of Japan’s launch (on October 4, 2018) of an actual LIBs submarine.

This is part of Naval Group’s Euronaval 2018 Press Release (repeated via many other sites in the submarine-sphere)  http://naval-group.com.au/2018/10/24/naval-group-presents-librt-its-new-generation-of-lithium-ion-batteries-system-for-submarines/ of October 24, 2018:

“Naval Group Presents LIBRT, Its New Generation Of Lithium-Ion Batteries System For Submarines... Naval Group brings its experience as a system provider and integrator, Saft [or SAFT] its expertise in the conception and production of state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries, CEA Tech provides Naval Group with its research capacities in the fields of chemistry, structure and electronics and, finally, EDF R&D volunteers its experience and its first rank testing facilities for energy production systems requiring high levels of safety, reliability and security...”

PETE COMMENT

Concept announcements in the context of arms shows like Euronaval 2016 and Euronaval 2018 need to be treated with caution. Announcements may be reactions to actual achievements by non-European submarine makers and in response to questions by European governments as to European progress made so far.

There seems to be little sense how technically mature the Naval Group and TKMS LIBs concepts are. What year will they first be launched in a submarine that will then become operational, 2025?

There is the risk that European submarine LIB intentions are at an early stage and if a customer wants LIBs it will need to pay a high portion of LIBs’ development costs.

A similar case was Naval Group’s announcement, again in Paris, at Euronaval (October) 2016 that it had developed a second generation fuel cell AIP known as FC2G. See this DCNS Youtube published two months later December 2016. After land based testing of FC2G some years ago there still has been no actual launch of a FC2G on a Scorpene. This also includes no launch of FC2G (which India's DRDO would label "indigenous AIP") in India’s Kalvari class Scorpenes. So India has had to postpone up to date AIP for its Scorpenes.

So reports of great strides in European LIBs for submarine need to be treated with caution.

DETAILS ON EUROPEAN LIBs

Anonymous suspects Naval Group’s LIB technology may rely on Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) or Lithium Titanate (LTO or ITO) LIBs with high levels [not yet operationally proven] of energy and safety. The use of LIBs in the Netherlands’ Walrus replacement and Poland’s ORKA submarine program is possible. (see Anonymous' kindly provided original comments of October 25, 2018 in the Comments section below this article).

Not only Naval Group, but also Germany’s TKMS is relying on SAFT for developing LIBs for submarine. [1] [2]. [3], [4]. LFP with good low-temperature stability is suitable for cold countries. Now, the market is implicitly forcing Sweden’s SAAB to develop a LIB option.

[Pete Comment - TKMS may also be recieving "reverse flow" submarine LIBs assistance from South Korean companies (quite advanced in LIBs - that have been building TKMS designed Type 209 and 214 submarines for 3 decades)!] 

[1] A Swedish language website on February 14, 2018 https://www.nyteknik.se/fordon/nya-ubaten-kan-bli-forst-med-litiumbatterier-6898850 carried an ambiguous message that Norway's future TKMS Type 212CD submarines “can be the first with lithium batteries - or last with lead-acid batteries.”

[2] October 22, 2018 https://www.aogdigital.com/component/k2/item/7668-thyssenkrupp-develops-new-lithiumion-batteries-for-submarines

[3] See the April 27, 2018 entry https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4458240

[4] A 2015 based BMT study “The Design & Safety Challenges of a Lithium-ion Main Storage Battery for Conventional Submarines” http://www.bmtdesigntechnology.com.au/media/6988323/SIA%20SubSTEC-4%20Paper%20-%20Challenges%20of%20a%20Li-ion%20Main%20Storage%20Battery%20for%20Conventional%20Submarines%20v1.0.pdf , has a passing reference to the Shortfin on the first page with more substantial mentions on especially the sixth page (to Japanese, Chinese and TKMS (LFP LIB) intentions through to page twenty.

Pete Comment: So this French and German submarine LIBs activity has been re-announced at an arms show but falls far short of Japan’s achievement of actually launching the first large LIBs submarine

Anonymous and Pete