Undersea Warriors

Prasun K. Sengupta

China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC), the export arm of the state-owned China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company (CSOC) unveiled three all-new designs of submarines at the Defence & Security 2017 exhibition, which took place from November 6 to 9 in Bangkok. The three designs — MS-200, S-600 and S-1100 — are all single-hulled (a first in China’s submarine-building history) and can also accommodate Stirling Engine-based air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems developed by CSIC’s 711th Institute.

CSIC’s S-1100 (above) & S-600 SSKs

The 200-tonne MS-200 features adopts a teardrop and single-hull structure, while its sail has a three-dimensional streamline shape, and its steering plane comprises bow hydroplane and cross-ster