ROK Navy Finds Major Defects On Three Of Its Type 214 Submarines

[dBSPL]

The Republic of Korea Navy (ROK Navy) announced that defects were found in 3 of the 9 Son Won-il-class submarines, the South Korean variants of the Type 214, currently in active service.​

Juho Lee 19 Feb 2022

ROK Navy submarine force will face a major setback in the coming months as the submarines go through major overhaul and parts are sent to Germany for repairs.

The ROK Navy found defects in the cables of the inverter module, one of the central components in the propulsion system, aboard ROKS Son Won-il, ROKS Yoon Bong-gil, and ROKS Yoo Gwan-soon. These are the first, fifth, and sixth boats of the class. Each submarine will have to go through a complex overhaul to receive repairs. This will immobilize each vessel at least four months.

To make matters worse, the inverter modules, produced by Siemens, cannot be fixed in Korean shipyards due to legal barriers concerning technology transfers and intellectual property. Therefore, the parts will need to be shipped to Germany for repairs, with the round way trip expected to last 2 months, leading to each submarine being out of action for at least 6 months.

This is expected to have a major negative impact on force readiness. The Son Won-il-class submarines are considered to be one of the ROK Navy’s most valuable assets, providing a strong deterrent against North Korean aggression. Displacing 1,860 tons when submerged, the submarines use air-independent propulsion, allowing them to stay underwater for up to two weeks. Moreover, they are capable of launching the Hyunmoo III cruise missile which can hit targets up to 1,000 km away.

These features make the ships especially effective at neutralizing North Korea’s mobile ballistic missile launchers based inland. Some fear that the reduction in force readiness will invite provocations from North Korea. The country may see the major overhaul as an opportunity to act more aggressively.

Siemens has already been awarded a ₩7 billion (~$6 million) contract to make repairs to the three subs. Work on the ROKS Son Won-il began in January. Repairs for the ROKS Yoon Bong-gil and ROKS Yoo Gwan-soon will begin in August this year and February next year, respectively.

“We are cooperating with the manufacturer,” a ROK Navy source told local media. “The overhaul periods have been spaced out to minimize the negative impact on force readiness.”

ROK Navy Finds Major Defects on Three of its Type 214 Submarines - Naval News

The Republic of Korea Navy (ROK Navy) announced that defects were found in 3 of the 9 Son Won-il-class submarines, the South Korean variants of the Type 214, currently in active service.

www.navalnews.com

 

[Bossman]

The Greeks also had major issues with their German subs.

 

[dBSPL]

The Greeks also had major issues with their German subs.

Apart than this type spesific issues, Greek submarines had stability and balance problems, so the problem there was related to very basic engineering parameters of submarine design. As far as I know, some structural changes have been made to address these issues, after first Greek submarines launched. How the Germans started to sell such a problematic engineering package so quickly is a different story...

The T214 actually represented an important technological advance in German submarine technology, but the problems that arose within the project caused a very painful process in the first operator countries. For this very reason, the -Turkish type 214s- Reis class submarine project was delayed for 6-7 years and has now turned into a highly differentiated submarine.