Ubåt - Er AIP i de nye, norske 212 klasse båtene alt utdatert ,eller er Li-Ion et sjansespill? - Twitter

AIP: Air Independent Propulsion - Hydrogenbasert brennselcelle (Type 212) eller Stirling engine (Svensk Gotland klasse). Sammen med tradisjonelle batterier gir dette fartøyet mye lengre utholdenhet og rekkevidde i neddykket tilstand. Svenskene skremte livskiten av USN da de i 2005 nedkjempet alene omtrent hele USS Ronald Reagan Task Force i Stillehavet vest av San Diego. Amerikanerne leide fartøyet i et år for å finne ut hva som skjedde. (Red.)

Japan’s Got a Stealthy New Submarine (With Some Very Interesting 'Batteries')

Japan on Nov. 6, 2019 launched a submarine with a new kind of battery that could allow the boats to sail farther while underwater.

by David Axe Follow @daxe on Twitter

Japan on Nov. 6, 2019 launched a submarine with a new kind of battery that could allow the boats to sail farther while underwater.

The 275-feet-long Toryu is the 12th and final Soryu-class vessel and the second, after sister vessel Oryu, with lithium-ion batteries replacing the lead-acid batteries that most other submarines carry. The boats still have diesel generators for supplementary power.

A Soryu boasts a top speed of 20 knots when submerged and 12 knots on the surface. Each boat in the class has six 533-millimeter bow tubes that can fire the Japanese-developed Type 89 heavyweight torpedo. The boats also can fire Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

Following trials, Toryu could enter service with the Japanese navy as early as March 2021. Japan currently operates 19 submarines and in coming years aims to grow its undersea fleet to 22 vessels in order to balance China’s own expanding sub force.

They have a higher power-density than traditional batteries, and they can be made smaller and in novel shapes which better fit the space given to them. Yet the submarine community has been slow to adopt this technology

This is for good reason. As we know from Samsung's woes with the Galaxy Note 7, lithium-ion batteries are prone to catching fire. Battery fires aboard submarines can quickly turn lethal. Recently 14 elite Russian submariners lost their lives due to a fire in the battery compartment of their submarine.

Those were traditional, safer, lead-acid batteries. Japan must have found a way to make lithium-ion batteries safe enough to send to sea.

Japan isn’t alone in developing new batteries for submarines. South Korea also plans to install lithium-ion batteries in a new class of subs that could enter service in the early 2020s. The first of the three locally-designed KSS-III Batch I boats launched in September 2018.