Italy’s new diesel-electric submarine (SSK) – being delivered under the U212 Near Future Submarine (NFS) programme – will arrive at a time when new submarine capabilities are having significant effect in an increasingly contested underwater domain. The boats’ improved capabilities will reinforce the output the Italian Navy is already generating with its Todaro class Type 212A SSKs.
In February 2023, NATO hosted its annual, Mediterranean-based anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise, ‘Dynamic Manta’, in the Ionian Sea off southern Italy. As ‘Dynamic Manta’ takes place on the doorstep of the Eastern Mediterranean/Black Sea region, it is very much a real-world exercise. Since the return of great power competition and naval rivalry at sea, the region has become a critical stage within the wider Euro-Atlantic theatre, as NATO navies and the Russian Federation Navy use operational presence to joust for strategic position across the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Bosporus/Dardanelles straits maritime choke point that connects them. The region’s geostrategic significance is being borne out in how it has become a critical access and presence point in the Russo-Ukraine War.
Credit: NATO
For NATO, the Italian Navy provides major presence in Central and Eastern Mediterranean waters. The Italian Navy has been undergoing significant transformation, adding capabilities that support both national and international interests. This includes F-35s onboard the aircraft carrier Cavour, improved amphibious capability based around the assault ship Giuseppe Garibaldi, surface punch provided for anti-air warfare and ASW tasks by its Bergamini class FREMM multi-mission frigates, and a recapitalised and expanded submarine force built around its Type 212A fleet.
One Type 212A was deployed on ‘Dynamic Manta’, according to NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM). MARCOM and the navies themselves tend not to release names of submarines operating at sea. However, social media outlets suggested the boat was the second-in-class Scirè (S 527).
In a MARCOM press statement released as the exercise got underway, Rear Adm. Stephen Mack, a US Navy (USN) officer and Commander Submarines NATO, said “Strategic defence of the alliance must incorporate a planned, multi-threat response. ‘Dynamic Manta’ provides the framework to deliver that training in a wide range of maritime competencies. ‘Dynamic Manta’ is one of MARCOM’s most technically challenging exercises, and is made possible by the outstanding support we have received from the Italian Navy as host country,” Rear Adm. Mack added.
Such support included Scirè’s presence. Scirè participated in several ASW serials, which built in complexity from basic to the advanced level, as the NATO maritime forces progressed during the exercise from unit-level training to focus on fully integrated operations, MARCOM told MDM. Scirè also participated in a serial dedicated to demonstrating interoperability between submarines and NATO special forces. The wide range of training that ‘Dynamic Manta’ provides to deal with a broad spectrum of threats underlines the complexity of the Eastern Mediterranean operating environment that the Italian Navy’s Type 212As work in.
Several NATO and non-NATO countries operate submarines in the region. Moreover, since the return of state-based rivalry at sea and the growing strategic importance of the Eastern Mediterranean as the sole maritime access point into the Black Sea, Russia has sought to inflate an anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) ‘bubble’ over the region to limit – and deny, if needed – NATO naval access into the Black Sea. With the onset of war and Turkey’s decision (under the 1936 Montreux Convention) to close access through the Bosporus/Dardanelles to any warship not homeported in the Black Sea, naval congestion in the Eastern Mediterranean has increased. Russian ‘Kilo’ class SSKs homeported in the Black Sea have continued to move back and forth through the region. Russia has also reportedly deployed nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) to the Eastern Mediterranean, alongside surface forces already operating there. Russian forces present in the region have used Tartus, Syria as a forward-deployment ‘pit-stop’.
In February 2023, the Chief of Italian Naval Staff Adm. Enrico Credendino told the Defence Commission of the Italian parliament’s lower house that the number of Russian ships in the Mediterranean was increasing to a level not seen even in the Cold War, bringing greater risk of tension and incident. The admiral noted that one Russian naval group was sailing near Italian waters in the Ionian Sea. At the same time, four NATO carrier strike groups – French, Italian, Spanish, and US – were present in the Mediterranean, including to participate in the NATO ‘Neptune Strike’ carrier integration exercise.
Credit: NATO
From NATO’s perspective, submarine capability is key to lancing A2/AD ‘bubbles’, for example around choke points, and to support wider sea control requirements including securing sea lines of communication (SLOCs) in wartime.
In peacetime, too, SLOC protection is a core role for Italian submarines. In the Eastern Mediterranean, commercial traffic heads not only towards the Black Sea but to the northern access point for the Suez Canal. Submarines of the Marina Militare play a key role in monitoring such traffic, providing surveillance which encompasses operational task requirements including countering terrorism and managing illegal migration.
The Eastern Mediterranean is also a choke point for critical seabed infrastructure like oil and gas pipelines and data and power cables. A number of cables funnel through the Suez Canal northern access point. Current and future submarines of the Italian Navy will play a critical role in securing such infrastructure. In July 2022, the Italian Naval Staff signed an agreement with stakeholders in Italy’s communications sector for the navy to provide increased surveillance of seabed infrastructure.
In sum, in support of both national and NATO requirements, Italian Navy’s submarines must be designed and equipped to deliver the full range of tasks to tackle the full range of threats, whether working independently or (as NATO submarines and surface ships are now doing to a greater degree) as part of national or multinational task groups.
Submarine capabilities of the Marina Militare
Set against this context, the development of future submarine capabilities is critical from both national and NATO perspectives. Thus the news, in February 2023, that the navy’s latest submarine programme – to deliver four new boats under the U212 NFS (Near Future Submarine) project – had passed critical design review (CDR) was an important step in sustaining Italian Navy’s submarine capability.
The essence of the critical design review is that the future submarine’s design is certified as mature, delivering a boat that is safe and reliable for operations at sea, and able to meet its mission requirements. The programme is now set to move on to the next phase – build of the submarines, and delivery of the boats into operation. In a statement released announcing CDR approval, OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’ARmement; ENG: Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation) – the European cooperative defence programme management agency, responsible for managing the U212 NFS contract including co-ordinating development and delivery of the boats – said that passing the CDR’s formal assessment of platform design set against product specifications and operational reliability requirements was a “fundamental step for the realisation of the new generation of submarines”. “The CDR has demonstrated that the design is mature and fully compliant to mission performance requirements,” OCCAR said, adding “The system can now proceed with the manufacturing, system installation, integration, and trial test phase.”
In 2016-17, the Italian Navy took the decision to maintain a force level of eight submarines. This force structure consists currently of four Type 212A Todaro class SSKs, which were commissioned in two batches of two boats in 2006-07 and 2016-17 respectively, and four older Improved Sauro class SSKs. The four U212 NFS boats will replace the Sauro submarines, again being delivered in two batches of two.
An eight-boat force level (compared to the Italian Navy’s previous force level of six boats) will enable the navy to maintain more boats at sea. Under traditional naval roulement processes, three boats cycle through a rotational deployment to maintain one boat on station. So, a six-boat force level would generate two at sea on patrol. However, using alternative deployment postures and having eight boats in the flotilla may mean that operational availability will be higher than one boat in three.
Credit: US Navy
In terms of providing technology and capability upgrades, the benefits of the ‘batch’ approach were demonstrated with the Todaro class. The second batch – boats three and four – were fitted with the new Kongsberg MSI-90U Mk 2 weapon control/combat management system (CMS), the STN Atlas Elektronik CSU 90-138 integrated sonar, the Cassidian OMS 100 optronics mast, and the Black Shark Advanced NPS (Nuovo Siluro Pesante) wire-guided torpedo.
In March 2021, a contract to design and build the U212 NFS submarines was signed, with the contract splitting development and delivery into two batches of two boats. The contract also covers development of training facilities and provision of support for a 10-year period.
Under this contract, the first boat, referred to by OCCAR as U212 NFS NR.1, was laid down in January 2022. According to OCCAR, the current delivery schedule will see boat one arrive by the end of 2027, and boat two (NR.2) at the start of 2029. In December 2022, a contract was issued for development of boat three. The last two boats (NR.3 and NR.4) are scheduled to arrive in 2030 and 2031.
In a statement to MDM, an OCCAR spokesperson said “The next significant programme milestones include the first steel cutting for U212 NFS NR.2 (in 2023), Lithium-Ion [Li-Ion] battery integration assessment, the Training Centre delivery (2025), and NFS NR.1 launching (in late 2026).”
The Type 212A boats were built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, implementing Italian modifications to an original common design originally developed by German shipyards Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft and Thyssen Nordseewerke to meet German requirements. Known as ‘Improved Todaro’ submarines, the U212 NFS boats will provide design and capability upgrades over the Type 212As. “The new U212 NFS is a decisive evolution compared to the original Italian-German U212A programme,” said the OCCAR spokesperson.
According to OCCAR, the U212 NFS boat design “has capitalised on the experiences of the current Type 212A and has exploited the cutting-edge technology of the mechanical, energy and sensor, structures, and projects sectors”. Broadly, it will bring improved design, stealth, transit speed, endurance, surveillance, command and control (C2), and sensor/weapons payloads.
Much of the capability augmentation will be enabled by the U212 NFS boats being 59 m in length, compared to the 55 m Type 212As. The U212 NFSs will displace 1,995 tonnes when dived, compared to the Type 212A’s 1,830 tonnes. When dived, the new boat’s top speed will be 20 kn.
Improved design, technology, and capability is being introduced across the submarine, including: new hull, fin, rudder, and propeller shapes; low-profile electronic masts and periscopes, including an integrated radar/communications electronic support measures antenna; non-magnetic steel; a new air-independent propulsion (AIP) system; Li-Ion batteries; a re-designed control room, to enable installation of more operator consoles; a new CMS, in the form of the Leonardo Athena Mk2/U CMS system; a state-of-the-art integrated platform management system (IPMS), supplied by Fincantieri Nextech; an improved sonar suite; Elettronica electronic warfare (EW) capability; and a weapons load-out that consists of the Leonardo Black Shark NPS torpedo and, potentially, a stand-off cruise missile (of a still-to-be-determined type).
On the latter point, it should be noted that Germany and Norway (through tkMS and Kongsberg, respectively) are already co-operating on development of a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) capability for the German Navy.
In particular, the U212 NFS boats will have a higher degree of Italian design and technology input. In its statement to MDM, OCCAR highlighted several key capabilities here.
First, the Leonardo CMS brings nine dual-screen, interchangeable multi-function consoles plus a separate console for the boat’s commanding officer. The CMS system and its set-up are designed to enhance picture compilation, data exchange, and task planning and execution. This will “enable NFS to operate as a main node of an underwater network that will extend the platform’s overall surveillance capability”, the OCCAR spokesperson said.
“The boats are designed to enter the ‘system of systems’ approach, meaning they will be capable of interacting with uncrewed systems,” Johannes Peters, Head of the Center for Maritime Strategy and Security, Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University, told MDM. “To what degree this will be achieved remains to be seen, but the important thing is they will function as a bridging platform from traditional submarines to a ‘system of systems’ in the future.”
Second, the use of electric-drive universal modular masts, developed by L3HARRIS Calzoni, provides a basis to move towards future development of a full electric submarine, said OCCAR.
Third, a collection of Italian industrial companies including Fib, FAAM, and P4F are working together to develop the Li-Ion battery system technology. Li-Ion batteries are widely seen as one of the next key steps to be taken in submarine capability development.
AIP enables SSKs to generate dived endurance for several weeks at a time, as opposed the several days that a traditional SSK can spend below the surface. “This gives them a decisive tactical advance without having to cross the ‘nuclear bridge’” – in other words, not having to develop a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) capability – said Peters.
Li-Ion batteries present the opportunity to take AIP capability and the advantage it offers a step further, Peters explained. “To exploit the potential of AIP even more, the switch from lead-acid to Li-Ion batteries will be the next step. This technique offers further enhanced submerged endurance,” he added.
The U212 NFS boats will also reflect design and capability developments for the Type 212 Common Design (CD) SSK being built by tkMS for the German and Norwegian navies. Such commonality offers options for co-operation on maintenance, and enhances interoperability, Peters noted.
Lee Willett
