ADECS Underwater Defence Technology Asia 2020 Submarine - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

ADECS Underwater Defence Technology Asia 2020

Submarine Proliferation - A Regional Overview

Collin Koh RSIS Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies

4 February 2020 Singapore

Submarine Proliferation: Regional Comparison

35 27 26 25 164 122 93 84 20 18 15 36 178 234 200 228 50 100 150 200 250 1989 1999 2009 2019 Caribbean and Latin America Europe and North America Middle East and North Africa Asia-Pacific Source: IISS Military Balance corroborated with other sources.

Rise of lower-tier submarine builders also enables submarine proliferation

Submarine Proliferation: Tonnage Comparison

• Sub. Displ (ton)

1989 1999 2009 2019 >3500 11 22 44 71 3000-3500 6 11 12 11 2500-3000 20 12 4 2 2000-2500 11 21 38 30 1500-2000 118 80 41 33 1000-1500 6 14 13 18 <1000 6 74 48 63

Source: IISS Military Balance corroborated with other sources.

Capability Trends

• Better quieting (anti-sonar anechoic tiles, internal

acoustic-suppression)

• Better submerged endurance (AIP, fuel-cell, Li-ion

battery)

• Better combat systems (i.e. sensors and weapons

control)

• Better standoff weapon capabilities (long-range

anti-ship cruisemissiles and SLCMs)

Submarine Proliferation: Propulsion Comparison

Source: IISS Military Balance corroborated with other sources. 172 228 188 187 3 29 6 6 9 12 50 100 150 200 250 1989 1999 2009 2019 Conventional AIP Nuclear

Vietnam People’s Navy Kilo-class submarine firing Klub SLCM. Video: https://vndata.blogspot.sg/2018/01/vietnam-kilo-class-submarine-launches.html (from -0.27 onwards)

Expeditionary Force Projection

Other Forms of Proliferation

Submarine Emergency Response (SMER) Capabilities

Source: IISS Military Balance corroborated with other sources. 178 234 200 228 5 7 8 17 50 100 150 200 250 300 1989 1999 2009 2019 Submarines SMER Assets

Final Thoughts

Thank you!