Japan commissions first Soryu-class submarine equipped with lithium-ion batteries

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) commissioned its first Soryu-class diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK) equipped with lithium-ion batteries in a ceremony held on 5 March in Hyogo Prefecture in west-central Japan.

Named JS Oryu (with pennant number SS 511), the 84-m-long boat was inducted into the JMSDF's Submarine Flotilla 1, based in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, shortly after being handed over by shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) at its facility in Kobe, a JMSDF spokesperson told Jane’s that same day.

Oryu is the 11th submarine of the class and the sixth to be built by MHI, with the other five having been built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI). Oryu was laid down in March 2015 and launched in October 2018.

The total cost of acquiring the submarine amounted to about JPY66 billion (USD615 million), the spokesperson said.

The launch comes after GS Yuasa, a Kyoto-based developer and manufacturer of battery systems, had announced in February 2017 that Japan would become the first country in the world to equip SSKs with lithium-ion batteries in place of lead-acid batteries.

At the time the company said the batteries, which store considerably more energy than the lead-acid batteries, would be mounted on the final two Soryu-class boats for the JMSDF: SS 511 ( Oryu ), and SS 512 ( Toryu ).

According to Jane’s Fighting Ships