What Singapore's Type 218SG Submarines Might Be Used For (Part 2)

The most official 18 February 2019 indicator of what Singapore's new Invincible class Type 218SG submarine will be used for is less controversial non-state threats: terrorists, pirates, smugglers of arms, drugs and of people. 

But much more should be added (below) including Singaporean submarines defending against and monitoring Chinese ship, submarine and land targets. 

The emphasis given to AIP in Singapore's current 2 x Archer class (Stirling AIP) and 4 future 218SGs (fuel cell AIP) suggest short to medium range missions will be common. This is because AIP is heavy and of diminishing utlilty on longer range missions. 

SENSORS

The 218SG's Atlas Elektronik combat system, with some US add-ons, will retain many existing capabilities and add new ones. Many missions around Singapore Island (map below) and the Malacca Strait will be on AIP (for around 2 weeks) only. Much of this short range work is (will be) for electronic warfare (eg. signals interception). Such interception "targets" can more publically include the non-state actors (eg. detecting short range terrorist/pirate/smuggler radio signals).

Once a submarine senses a target a submarines weapons are too heavy and expensive (more than 
US$1 million per torpedo or missile) to destroy a small boat. Also you'd blow up people who may only be suspects and blow up all evidence! Instead a submarine (using tethered signal buoy beaming to satellite?) may alert a Singapore Police Coast Guard boat or Navy patrol vessel (maybe launching a smaller rigid hulled boat) to deal with the target boat more "gently".

With only 28 officers-sailors needing accommodation on 218SGs, on special missions there may be space for:

-  around 6 intercept operators/linguists with 6 work stations 
or
-  around 10 divers-special forces and their equipment (one mission fighting terrorists).

Networked with Singapore's submarines in combatting and monitoring threats includes other Singaporean, US and other allied platforms. Platforms include land based or connected sensors, seabed (long range SOSUS) broader ocean sensors and shorter range (RAP/FDS) sensors strung across the Malacca Strait seabed and nodes on/near Singapore main island and islets. On seabed sensors see https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2019/01/possible-sosus-rapfds-arrays-western.html .

Possibly networked with and informing subs are human intelligence/police/border/customs, overt press, patrol boats, frigates, LCSs, aircraft/UAVs, land-based radar and intercept stations and satellites. 

PATROLS - TAILING

All these networked sensors can help cue submarines to tail Chinese submarines on surfaced "innocent passage" through the Malacca Strait and more so Chinese subs who decide to pass through submerged. 

SSKs like the 218SG are too slow to shadow Chinese SSNs and SSBNs. But (with Japanese submarines doing the northern leg shadow) 218SGs could do the southern leg shadow of Chinese Song and AIP Yuan class SSKs.  

Only at long ranges into the Pacific (including South China Sea) and Indian Ocean would Singapore's submarines be a little more autonomous of all this network help. Looking at Germany's Type 212A as a minimum, the 218SG may have a range of around 8,000nm at around 4 to 8 knots combined snorting and surfaced. Such a range would allow a 218SG to:

-  patrol oil strategic lines of communication (SLOCs) between the mid-Indian Ocean
    (eg. Diego Garcia or India's east coast bases) and Singapore.
 or
-   Singapore to Taiwan and return (maybe keeping an eye on the southern China
    coast) using aerials extended from the fin/sail, tethered buoys or work-to-submarine UUVs.

Singapore's submarines (as with the surface navy) all the way to the Persian Gulf oil area, can contribute to longer range protection of the oil/gas/chemical tanker route. This includes tankers eastwards across the Indian Ocean to Singapore's refinery/chemical facilities.

Map of Singapore. Consisting of one main island and 62 islets. Ongoing land reclamation projects have increased Singapore's land area from 582 km2 in the 1960s to 724.2 km2 in 2018. This geography provides many places for 218SG to sit waiting on the seabed, between islets while monitoring many things. (Map courtesy Geology(dot)com)

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Broader map of the Strait of Malacca/Malacca Strait (of great strategic and economic value) and the much smaller Strait of Singapore. (Map courtesy welt-atlas).
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WEAPONS HELP

Another way to estimate what the 218SG may be used for is to look at the Combat System - Weapons suite.

Singapore does not appear to be using the submarine weapons of its main ally, the US, other than possibly the US made Harpoon anti-ship and land attack missile. Singapore’s Air Force and Navy use the Harpoon. In the submarine launch mode the Harpoon is called UGM-84 with a range of up to 140 km (75 nm) against ship and land targets.

Other than the Harpoon it is more likely that Singapore is using weapons compatible with its Atlas Elektronik Combat System. Judging by the weapons on the top of the TKMS line German Navy Type 212A, Singapore’s Type 218SG will use:

-  the Atlas Elektronik developed DM2A4 "SeaHake mod 4" 533mm heavyweight torpedo (HWT).

    This is noting Singapore is not listed as a US Mark 48 HWT operator.

-  With 8 torpedo tubes this provides room for deployment of at least 16 naval mines and/or 

-  8 or more medium sized UUVs (which can be weaponised, making them highly mobile very smart

    mines to defend Singapore or to block Chinese access to the Strait of Malacca and other

    chokepoints).

-  Germany (including TKMS) is developing the small short (20km) range missile known as

    the IDAS (Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines) used for surface to air, 

     anti-ship (eg. anti-pirate smuggler boats) and (light) land attack.

I see no evidence Singapore is using the US made Tomahawk longer range cruise missile, for submarines and other platforms (yet). There is a possibility the 218SG already has, or can be retrofitted with, a vertical multi-purpose lock (VMPL). This could vertically launch 6 Tomahawk cruise missiles (or similar), launch a large UUV, diver delivery vehicle or be used for special forces equipment storage.

SOME USEFUL SOURCES

-  Submarine Matters' February 19 and 20 2019.

-  Sebastien Roblin at The National Interest. March 2, 2019, with cited halfway down Sebastien's
    article.

-  Singapore's Straits Times, Feb 18-20, 2019.

-  Wikipedia to Feb 19, 2019 including

-  Janes Feb 19, 2019.

-  The Independent, Feb 19, 2019.

Singapore’s Ministry of Defence, February 18, 2019, including:

-  Singapore Navy's First Invincible-Class Submarine Launched

-  Fact Sheet: Invincible-Class Submarines

-  Speech by Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, at the Launch of the First Type 218SG
   Submarine

Pete