Canadia's Industry Minister Melanie Joly (good looking! :) is requiring Germany and South Korea, which want Canada's submarine contract, to facilitate significant automotive production commitments (build factories) on Canadian soil. See the January 9, 2026 Korea Times article at this https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/amp/business/companies/20260109/canadian-sub-deal-hinges-on-carmaker-cooperation
Pete Comment
VW may lead the German automotive push. It sells more autos that are perhaps more price competitive than Mercedes, BMW, Porsche or Audi. South Korea, with car production dominated by price competitive Hyundais and Kias, may have an industrial advantage over Germany. Also the increase in Germany's defence spending, due to Russia-Ukraine, may reduce Germany's ability to raise offset money for Canadian car factories.
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Since I wrote "TKMS-Canadian Marmen Collaboration: Has Type 212CD Won the CPSP?" on December 22, 2025, on traditional naval criteria TKMS may be ahead in the future Canadian submarine competition (CPSP).
A factor that may favour the TKMS Type 212CD is TKMS' decades of experience of anti-Russian operations in very cold water - something SK's submarine builders cannot match. It is possible that in cold water the Type 212CD may have advantages in Lithium-ion Batteries, AIP and sonar compared to the Hanwha Ocean's KSS-III – although this is dependent on submarine development years away and is classified. Also the NATO First Policy, perhaps most overtly voiced by the UK in 2025, favours NATO nation (Canadian and German) solidarity.
The Canadian
armed forces are some of the personnel manning the IUSS (NATO aligned) seafloor
and tethered sensor network mainly aimed at Russian submarines. Canadian
submarines help weaponize this IUSS network. See https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2022/05/us-uk-canadian-undersea-surveillance.html
Another factor that may favour the German-Norwegian designed 212CD is that Canada is building 8 x Norwegian designed Harry DeWolf-class offshore patrol vessels. These vessels, at 6,500 tonnes, are ice-breakers - hence adapted to cold water operations.
13 comments:
The EU offers also SAFE credits Canada could use to buy submarines.
https://www.hartpunkt.de/kanada-koennte-eu-kredite-fuer-finanzierung-neuer-u-boote-nutzen/
The EU is also a far bigger market than South Korea.
Really depends on what you are selling to the EU - agriculture and meat products? No. Aerospace products, probably not. Oil? Yes.
Hyundai can easily set up a factory or plant. VW could as well, but it may take them a little longer.
Hyundai build an assembly plant for EVs in Singapore three years back:
https://www.hyundai.news/eu/articles/press-releases/hmgics-grand-opening-2023.html#:~:text=Given%20its%20worldwide%20reputation%20for,to%20its%20advanced%20manufacturing%20capability.
Hyundai already have car plants in USA. I think VW has more to gain from: setting up a Canadian plant. EU remains a much bigger export market overall.
Cooperation between TKMS and Cohere.
https://www.hartpunkt.de/kanada-tkms-und-cohere-wollen-bei-ki-gestuetzten-faehigkeiten-fuer-u-boot-programm-kooperieren/ (in German)
Regards,
MHalblaub
There is for example the Canadian C-Series. Today known as A220 due to Boeings laughable claims about subsidized aircraft sold beneath cost's manufacturing. You may guess who was US president than.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSeries_dumping_petition_by_Boeing
This aircraft is also sold to Europa.
Germany and Canada alone have more trade than Canada and South Korea.
There are plans for battery production by VW in Canada due to cheap electricity by Canadian hydro power stations.
As with the Polish submarine competition what looked like South Korea being the frontrunner 2 years ago has transformed into a much more complex matter involving NATO and EU partnerships regarding the CPSP.
Canada's new terms about car factories and parts is also an attempt to work around Trump's heavy tariffs on Canadian autos and parts. Canada produces and exports various complete vehicles and parts, including passenger cars, trucks, and buses. Some foreign automakers already operate assembly plants in Canada.
The performance of conventional submarines is set to improve as electric
vehicle research helps bring about advances in battery technology:
‘Production-Ready’ Solid-State Battery Promises 5-Minute EV Charging"
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2026/01/07/production-ready-solid-state-battery-promises-five-minute-ev-charging/
Hi Anonymous at 1/16/2026 2:53 PM
Some work needs to be done on solid state batteries to make them a mature technology.
AI indicates: "solid-state batteries face significant hurdles, primarily high manufacturing costs, complex production, and interfacial issues like dendrite formation and poor contact between solid layers, leading to reduced lifespan, though they promise greater safety and energy density. Challenges also include temperature sensitivity requiring heaters, brittleness, and the need for new, costly infrastructure, hindering mass adoption despite intensive research."
Also see this video dated Nov 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uspSYVssGXU&t=628s
Cheers Pete
The problem is the thickness of the cable to recharge a submarine. The length of the cable could also be challenging. Recharging a submarine within 5 minutes may possible then. The doubled energy density is although interesting. Far greater submerged range. You still have to recharge with onboard generators. Snorkelling time is only depended on the generators.
Hi Anonymous at 1/19/2026 8:04 PM
The increased number of charge/discharge cycles and the reduced risk of
battery fires are also useful.
Hi Anonymouses at 1/19/2026 8:04 PM and 1/21/2026 4:21 AM
I'm also concerned that Russia and China with the budgets and technology to build rapidly more sensitive undersea listening networks (fixed, UUVs, USVs and subs) might find very high charging subs (for Lithium-ion Batteries) easier to detect.
Also periscopes/optronic masts and snorkels may be easier to detect by Russian and Chinese satellites, UAVs and patrol aircraft when subs are near the surface. Already Western sats and aircraft have excellent sensitivity unknown to we public.
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