Japan commissions first Taigei-class submarine with better underwater endurance. The boat, which has been named Taigei with pennant number SS 513, was commissioned at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Kobe, said the JMSDF in a statement published via an official social media channel.
The Taigei, meaning Big Whale, is the first of a successor class to Japan’s current Soryu-class boats. Its home port will be the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s base at Yokosuka, south of the capital Tokyo, where it will join Submarine Flotilla 2.
mod.go.jp
Taigei was launched by MHI in October 2020. It has an overall length of 84.5 m, a beam of 9.1 m, an estimated draught of about 8.5 m, and a standard displacement of about 3,000 tonnes, slightly larger than the Soryu-class submarines. Seventy personnel will crew the vessel.
Notably, it is equipped with lithium-ion cells instead of lead acid batteries found on the JMSDF's older boats. The lithium-ion cell is similar to the ones found on the service's final two Soryu-class SSKs that were commissioned in March 2020 and March 2021, respectively.
The new submarine class is expected to be armed with Japan’s latest Type 18 heavyweight torpedo, which features improved propulsion as well as target-detection and -processing capabilities over the preceding Type 89 torpedo. It can also launch the Boeing UGM-84L Harpoon Block II submarine-launched anti-ship missile, which can also be used against land targets.
Japan has conducted extensive research into the use of lithium-ion batteries on submarines since the early 2000s. The batteries, which are manufactured by GS Yuasa, are lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide batteries. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force previously said the new battery technology requires less maintenance and is capable of longer endurance at high speeds while submerged compared to lead-acid batteries.
