The world's first lithium-ion-powered combat submarine built in Japan

On March 5, 2020, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces officially adopted the Oryu submarine of the Soryu type. It would seem that there is something special. But, as bmpd notes, this is the world's first submarine with lithium-ion batteries instead of the usual lead-acid ones.

Why do you need batteries on submarines

As you know, in diesel-electric submarines, batteries are needed in order to quietly move under the water column and in those cases when it is simply impossible to start the engines. Lead acid batteries have significant disadvantages, namely:

Limited power reserve and rather long charging time for dead batteries.

The introduction of lithium-ion batteries in submarines

The Japanese authorities have long considered the possibility of using lithium-ion batteries, because they have a significantly higher capacity (compared to acid batteries). At low speeds, the range on lithium-ion batteries is comparable to the range on acid batteries together with a Stirling engine.

Thus, the installation of lithium-ion batteries made it possible to completely abandon the Stirling engine and thus save the interior space of the submarine.

In addition, lithium-ion batteries are charged with much higher currents compared to acid ones. This significantly reduces the downtime of the submarine required to fully charge.

And finally, when driving at maximum speed in silent mode, the power reserve is higher with new batteries.

The Oryu 11 submarine, which was put into operation, created according to the Soryu type, is 84 meters long, 9.1 meters wide, and a displacement of 4.2 thousand tons. tone. The maximum speed is 20 knots.

Already in March 2021, the Japanese self-defense forces intend to take into operation 12 boats of a similar type codenamed "Toryu". It will also be equipped with lithium-ion batteries.

What are the prospects

But that's not all. Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is already actively developing new generation diesel-electric submarines according to project 29SS. In the future, it is planned to completely replace the submarines of the Soryu series.

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