Might the Singaporean customised future HDW 218SG by similar in appearance and displacement to Israel's current customised HDW 212/214 (known as the AIP Dolphin 2) above?
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Where will the Type 218SG fit on this HDW submarine tree?
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Singapore's Defence Ministry (Mindef) signed the purchase deal with TKMS on November 29, 2013 to buy two the 218SGs. The contract was likely to be worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion).
In hindsight this website's November 13, 2013 article http://gentleseas.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/germans-sinking-kockums-swedish-sub.html was an indicator that HDW winning the Singapore order was suspected by the Swedish and German media. Singapore's 218SG decision is clearly a blow to Kockums and to Sweden's Navy (which would rely on foreign sales of Kockums subs to lower unit costs of Kockums subs). Unless the Swedish Government or a Swedish firm buys back Kockums Sweden might be forced to buy its future submarines from HDW or at least TKMS owned Kockums.
For Singapore there is some continuity buying customised submarines - from customised Kockums Archer and Challenger Class to customised HDW 218SG class.
I suspect HDW 218SG will be a highly modified version of HDW 212/214, noting that HDW has already produced a highly modified 212/214 in Israel's AIP Dolphin 2 Class. Given the expected 218SG delivery date of 2020 it is unlikely that the 218SG would be a radically new very large submarine of the HDW 216 Class which would probably take longer than the seven years to develop (2013-2020). Singapore's priority for shallow (green or brown) water capability might also suggested 218SGs might be of 214 or Dolphin size rather than 216.
Though I think it unlikely a 218SG would be as large as the 216 design such a large 218 would be advantageous for Australia's SEA 1000 project. The more experience of a conventional sub of the 216 size the better in terms of reducing technical and financial risk for Australia. It would be ideal if a 216 could be built in Australia, noting HDWs have been built in South Korea (including the HDW 209 as KSS-I and HDW 214 as KSS-II). Of course an SSN for Australia would be an even better SEA 1000 choice.
The two 218SGs, together with two existing Kockums Archer Class submarines, will replace the four ageing Challenger Class submarines, built in the 1960s and acquired by Singapore in the 1990s, which will be progressively retired from service. This follows Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Hen's comments in March 2013 about Mindef's plan to replace the Challenger submarines.
The 218SG contract includes a logistics package and the training of Singaporean crew in Germany. The 218SGs will have significantly improved capabilities including Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) which significantly increases a submarine’s underwater range and hence reduces the risk of detection.
TKMS indicated Singapore Technologies Electronics, a unit of defence conglomerate Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd , would co-develop the submarines' tailor-made combat system with Atlas Elektronik GmbH, a joint venture of ThyssenKrupp and European aerospace group EADS. Atlas already builds combat systems for other HDW subs including the Israeli Dolphin Class.
Singapore's projected defence budget for 2013 is Sg$12.34 billion (US$9.84 billion) up from 2012's Sg$11.83 billion in 2012. Under Singaporean law all able-bodied men must serve for two years in the military upon turning 18, providing additional manpower on top of the estimated 20,000 regulars. Singapore, surrounded by far larger neighbours has pursued a robust defence strategy since its complicated split from Malaysia in 1965. In part due to this large neighbour situation Singapore has cemented close relations with the US, Australian and Israeli military for decades.
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Many of the above details are from several media reports of December 2, 2013 and a TKMS Press Release of the same date:
http://www.nst.com.my/latest/singapore-to-acquire-two-submarines-from-german-firm-1.419154:
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/12/02/thyssenkrupp-submarines-idINL5N0JH37T20131202
TKMS Press Release December 2, 2013, http://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/presse/art_detail.html&eid=TKBase_1385989544737_761385703
See this my websites earlier article on Singapore's Archer and Challenger Class submarines at http://gentleseas.blogspot.com.au/2009/09/singapore-submarine-development.html
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Pete