The MTU Series 396 SE was developed specifically for the requirements of submarines. http://www.mtu-online.com/mtu-northamerica/applications/marine-defense/submarines/
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1-6-17 China Type 039B boats feature a modified hull and redesigned conning tower, as well as a flank sonar array. “The hulls of the Yuan class are clad with anechoic tiles, to minimize any return echoes when pinged by active sonars,” according to IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly.
The subs are allegedly fitted with diesel-electric engines supplemented by an air independent propulsion (AIP) system. As I noted back in 2015:
Diesel-electric subs are usually significantly stealthier than their nuclear counterparts, mostly due to diesel engines that are specifically designed to minimize vibration and noise in order to evade sonar detection. For example, both the Song- and Yuan-class attack submarines are equipped with German-made state-of-the-art diesel engines — the 396 SE84 series — designed by MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH of Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Type 039B subs are also reportedly fitted with the Kockums Stirling AIP technology, which increases the boats’ submerged endurance from days to weeks.
It is unclear what combat control systems are installed aboard the latest Yuan-class boats. Fitted with six 533-millimeter torpedo tubes, the sub can reportedly launch YJ-2 (YJ-82) anti-ship cruise missiles, launched in a buoyant capsule, and a combination of Yu-4 (SAET-50) passive homing and Yu-3 (SET-65E) active/passive homing torpedoes.
There has also been speculation that some boats of the class will be fitted with a vertical launch system for newer anti-ship cruise missiles such as the YJ-18, China’s most modern supersonic anti-ship missile specifically designed to defeat the Aegis Combat System. The YJ-18 has allegedly already been deployed on PLAN surface warships. https://thediplomat.com/2017/01/china-resumes-production-of-its-quietest-attack-submarine/
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3-6-18 Perhaps the most severe and significant has been the sale of specially quieted diesel engines and related equipment for China’s newest hunter-killer Yuan-class submarines. The transfer of some 50 submarine diesel engines by Germany’s MTU, which is partially owned by the UK’s Rolls Royce Group, has given the Chinese navy a leg-up to build modern, quiet attack subs.
But it does not stop there. The same company has provided about 250 or more advanced diesel engines for China’s navy, enhancing their speed, efficiency and reliability – important improvements as China builds a capable blue water navy including aircraft carriers....
The full story of what has been sold to China and what is directly transferring to China’s military has yet to be fully analyzed because the pro-China lobby in the United States and elsewhere has deliberately kept it all quiet or tried to explain it away. http://www.atimes.com/article/taiwan-faces-crucial-decision-technology-transfers-china/
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DECEMBER 19, 2013 Submarine diesel technology is hardly new, but these engines are built to exacting standards to ensure reliability under extreme conditions. MTU has been building them for more than 50 years. The engine delivered to China for the Song and Yuan classes, the MTU 396 SE84 series, is one of the world’s most widely used submarine power plants. Each of the Chinese submarines has three MTU diesels, according to technical specifications listed in Chinese military affairs journals and websites.
A spokesman for the Federal Office for Economics and Export Control (BAFA), the German authority that has to approve dual-use exports, said exports of diesel engines built especially for military use would be illegal. Engines that can be used for both civilian and military purposes would have to be approved by BAFA, he said - and in the case of China, such dual-use engines “would probably not be approvable.” He declined to comment specifically, however, about the MTU diesel engine sales to China’s navy.
Top quality diesel engines like the MTU designs minimize vibration and noise, reducing the risk of detection by enemy sonar. In the hands of a capable crew, modern diesel submarines can be fiendishly difficult to detect. When using their electric motors, they are significantly stealthier than nuclear submarines such as those in service with the United States, naval warfare experts say. For a relatively modest investment, a diesel electric sub could sink a hugely expensive aircraft carrier or surface warship.
With whisper-quiet engines, China’s best conventional submarines armed with modern torpedoes and missiles may pose the biggest danger to any potential adversary - including the U.S. Navy. Beijing’s naval strategists are banking on their growing fleet of subs to keep the Americans and their allies far away from strategic flashpoints in the event of conflict, such as Taiwan or disputed territories in the East China Sea and South China Sea. https://in.reuters.com/article/breakout-submarines-special-report-pix-g/corrected-special-report-chinese-militarys-secret-to-success-european-engineering-idINL4N0JJ0FM20131219
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