Type 209-class

The Type 209 (German: U-Boot-Klasse 209) is a family of diesel-electric attack submarines developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) exclusively for export. Ingenieurkontor Lübeck (IKL) designed the boats in the late 1960s, deriving them largely from the Type 206. The design targeted navies replacing Second World War-era boats, American GUPPY conversions and ex-British units, and it competed with the French Daphné, British Oberon and Soviet Foxtrot classes. HDW, Nordseewerke and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders built 68 boats in five variants, from the Type 209/1100 to the Type 209/1500, and these were commissioned by 15 countries between 1971 and 2021.

The Type 209 has a single hull, and the commanding officer can see from bow to stern while standing at the periscope. Four 120-cell batteries sit forward and aft of the control room and account for about a quarter of displacement. Four MTU diesels drive four AEG generators, and an AEG electric motor turns a five- or seven-bladed propeller. The boats have eight bow 533 mm torpedo tubes and carry 14 torpedoes, including SUT, SST-4, Mark 24 Tigerfish, DM2A3, DM2A4, Black Shark, A184 mod. 3 and Mark 37 types. Greek and South Korean 209/1200s and Turkish 209/1400s fire Sub-Harpoon missiles. India's Shalki and Shankul received UGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles, and Egypt's boats were ordered with the same missile and SeaHake mod 4 torpedoes. South Korean boats can carry 28 mines, and Indian boats can carry 24 mines externally. Brazil fitted a Lockheed Martin combat system for the Mark 48 torpedo, which was tested on Tapajó in December 2011.

Several subclasses depart from the baseline design:

• India's Shishumar class has an IKL integrated escape sphere for the whole crew, with an eight-hour air supply.
• Chile's Thomson class has extra escape hatches and higher masts.
• Israel's first three Dolphin-class boats are heavily modified and enlarged derivatives.
• The Greek Okeanos received a 6 m plug with a 120 kW Siemens air-independent propulsion system under a programme cancelled in 2009.

Greece's Hellenic Navy was the first operator. It commissioned four Type 209/1100s (Glavkos class) in 1971–72 and four Type 209/1200s in 1979. Argentina commissioned two Salta-class boats in 1974. During the 1982 Falklands War, ARA San Luis fired at least three wire-guided SST-4 Mod 0 torpedoes at the British fleet without success. Guide wires were cut and the torpedoes left course, and later testing traced the fault to reversed gyroscope polarity, after which AEG refitted Argentina's torpedo stock.

The Turkish Navy is the largest operator, with fourteen boats:

• six Atılay-class boats (1976–1989)
• four Preveze-class boats (1994–1999)
• four Gür-class boats (2003–2007)

Other operators include:

• Peru: six boats
• Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile: two each
• Brazil: the Tupi class
• India: four Shishumar-class boats (1986–1994)
• Indonesia: two Cakra-class boats (1981) and three Korean-built Nagapasa-class boats (2017–2021)
• South Korea: nine Jang Bogo-class boats (1993–2001)
• South Africa: three Heroine-class boats (2005–2008), which replaced Daphné-class submarines
• Egypt: four Type 209/1400mod boats (2017–2021)

Iran ordered six boats, but the order was cancelled in 1979 after the Iranian Revolution. In December 2011, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering won a $1.07 billion contract, placed without German involvement, to build three Jang Bogo-derived Nagapasa-class boats for Indonesia.

Indonesia's KRI Nanggala went missing during a torpedo drill north of Bali on 21 April 2021, and its wreckage was found three days later. The following boats have been retired:

• Argentina: San Luis, stricken in 1997
• Greece: Glavkos (2011) and a second boat in 2022, preserved as a museum
• Turkey: Saldıray (2014) and Atılay (2016)
• Brazil: Timbira, Tapajó and Tamoio (2023); Timbira was sunk as a target in April 2026

Greece and Turkey are replacing their early boats with the Type 214.