Early this month, attention is focusing on whether the Republic of Korea Navy's mainstay submarine Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine, which is sailing to Canada, will serve as a game changer in the bid for Canada's Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), estimated at up to 60 trillion won.
The official reason for the departure is to participate in the first bilateral combined naval exercise between Korea and Canada scheduled for June, but the underlying aim is to secure a comparative advantage. That is because Germany, a competing country, plans to bid with an "undeveloped submarine" that has no physical platform yet. This deployment amounts to last-minute covering fire by the military authorities to help Korea win the contract.
According to the defense industry and others on the 4th, the Republic of Korea Navy decided to send the Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine and one surface ship to Canada within this month. Hanwha Ocean, which built the Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine, will carry out preparations for departure to Canada at its Geoje plant in South Gyeongsang through the 9th. Because it must sail a long distance without incident, it plans to conduct comprehensive inspections of various equipment. Once maintenance is completed, the Navy will take it back, conduct a final inspection, and then depart for Canada.
The Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine is a 3,000-ton-class submarine and the first boat of the Jang Bogo-III Batch I. Batch refers to a group of ships built of the same type. Performance improvements are made from I to III. The Batch I program was completed in full as the Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine, the second boat An Mu, and the third boat Shin Chai-ho were all put into service.
The Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine is the latest submarine that was delivered to the Republic of Korea Navy in Aug. 2021 and entered service. Over more than four years of Navy operation, all initial issues were corrected. A defense industry official said, "The Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine is a 'finished product' with a stable operational record in the Navy," adding, "It will serve as an opportunity to stress that Korea can build the more advanced Batch II submarines, on top of the already excellent performance of existing submarines."
The model Korea proposed to Canada is the Jang Bogo-III Batch II. The first Batch II boat, Jang Young-sil, was launched last year and is currently undergoing testing and evaluation. It has grown to 3,600 tons, and performance has improved by adopting a propulsion system that combines lithium-ion batteries with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system. The number of vertical launch system (VLS) cells also increased.
The model proposed to Canada by Germany's Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), which is in a final-stage contest with Korea, is the 2,800-ton Type 212CD, which is currently under construction. Development is not yet complete.
Through this combined naval exercise, Korea is expected to showcase the Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine's seakeeping and performance. It must sail about 10,000 kilometers to Canada. Given that there is also a physical platform of the higher-performing Jang Young-sil, the strategy appears to be to secure a comparative advantage.
Meanwhile, CPSP proposals closed on the 2nd (local time). Hanwha Ocean submitted its CPSP proposal, including an industrial cooperation plan, to Canada late last month. The results are expected to come as early as around June. A shipbuilding industry official said, "There had been assessments that Korea was falling behind Germany in the behind-the-scenes competition, but the government and the defense industry are making a last-minute spurt by dispatching the Dosan Ahn Changho class (KSS-III) Submarine."
Germany and Canada are both members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and have maintained friendly relations for a long time. There is also an outlook that Korea has become disadvantaged as Germany has presented industrial cooperation plans desired by the Canadian government, such as in the automobile industry.
According to Reuters, TKMS touted a package including investments in rare earths and artificial intelligence (AI), space, and automotive batteries. It also reportedly presented plans to expand local production by Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz to the Canadian side.
On the other hand, there is also a view that Korea's chances of winning the deal have risen compared with the past, as the government and corporations have made the best proposals at this point. Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum (KODEF), said, "There is public opinion in Canada that questions the credibility of the industrial cooperation plans mentioned by Germany, based on the performance and other financial situations of German companies," adding, "If Germany had the upper hand in the past, Korea is now being evaluated as leading in terms of technology, bringing the assessment to 50-50."