KSS-III Coming To BC, Torpedo Production and Other Highlights From Mr. Fuhr And Friends Visit To Korea

Noah Note

As the day goes on, more and more info about Mr. Fuhr’s visit to Korea is coming out. While news has been trickling in slowly, that doesn't mean it has been for nothing. A lot of credit should be going to Judy Trinh, who, along with the CTV crew, is currently tagging along with everyone.

She's been a superstar at getting info out since people first arrived, and for that, I thank her greatly! It's from her that we are getting first confirmation that the ROKN is planning for a visit to British Columbia with a KSS-III later this year, likely around May.

This isn't too shocking. If you're going to be trying to win a competition, getting out to the public can be important. At the end of the day, a lot of public opinion goes into government decisions around defence spending. So, coming in with the actual submarine—an advantage Hanwha has—is something that honestly felt bound to happen.

Very reminiscent (for those of you old enough to remember) of the French bringing Saphir, a Rubis-class nuclear submarine, to Halifax back in 1987 at the height of Canada’s nuclear aspirations. Of course, that never came to be; however, there are some similar feelings to how France played at the time, especially on the public side, and how the Koreans are playing now.

If I can, I would love to get out myself and see it! Another trip among many, maybe. CANSEC time, though. For those of you in that area, it's an amazing opportunity to get a once-in-a-lifetime look at a KSS-III, even if it's a Batch-I. I would not miss it if I were you.

On a secondary note, it isn't the only thing coming out today. Along with this, we also get some not confirmed officially, but basically confirmed, partnerships coming out of this meeting. The big one is that Hanwha and Ontario Shipyards have apparently come to some sort of agreement, likely an MOU, that would see Hanwha and Ontario Shipyards collaborate on Mechatronic and Autonomous technologies in the shipbuilding industry.

Of course, Ontario has long been speculated here as a potential partner with Hanwha in CPSP, and while they are unlikely to be the major maintenance yard for the east coast, it does tie into the strategies that I have heard Hanwha undertaking—one that sees multiple shipyards brought on to leverage capacity and help bolster the supply chain.

Yards like Ontario might not do major maintenance on a KSS-III; however, they can assist on the fabrication and parts supply side, as well as potentially hosting a backup location for minor maintenance. All of which goes into leveraging underused assets, like those we see in Port Weller.

Often forgotten is how massive Ontario Shipyards is as a company. They are a legitimate shipyard, with multiple Seawaymax-sized graving docks and almost an entirely free schedule as of now. There is a serious debate one can make about whether they're utilizing themselves to their full potential.

So, these kinds of partnerships are very nice in my eyes. They present opportunities for underutilized assets with few remaining major contracts to find a role in the National Shipbuilding Strategy, even if not through traditional means. It also plays a bit into CDC. Whatever hypothetical benefits come out of such a partnership present themselves as assets when someone like Vard/Ontario present Vigilance as a potential solution.

Physical assets and infrastructure are not project-specific. That makes them extra beneficial for companies in these scenarios. It also makes my job a lot more fun when discussing stuff like CPSP. We also got some news outside of the usual Hanwha/Hyundai bubble of note today.

Korean media is also now reporting that if the KSS-III is selected, LIG Nex1 will establish a local production facility for the manufacturing of torpedoes for the future Canadian Patrol Submarine. The primary armament of the KSS-III is the K761 Tiger Shark (Heavyweight Torpedo-II), a 533 mm heavyweight torpedo developed by LIG Nex1 to replace the previous White Shark torpedo.

It uses a fibre-optic/wire guidance link with an inertial navigation system for mid-course updates and switches to active/passive acoustic homing in the terminal phase. Published performance figures indicate a length of roughly 6.5 m and a mass of around 1.6 tonnes, with a design range on the order of ~50 km. Top speed is claimed to exceed 55 knots.

LIG Nex1 has been open to the idea for some time, and while the KSS-III (utilizing Babcock’s Weapons Handling System) could hypothetically utilize whatever torpedo we wanted, the established idea was that we would retain the primary armament that whatever host partner selected utilizes.

Scoring a commitment to domestic production is a net benefit, although there are challenges at play. Torpedoes, especially modern ones, are highly digital, complex systems in themselves. Modern torpedoes are no easier to construct in terms of technology and infrastructure as, say, a modern cruise missile. Both require significant investment and technology.

However, the Tiger Shark does have a few benefits over many others on the market. The Tiger Shark utilizes a Lithium-Ion battery as its primary power source, unlike others that use limited supplier products like Silver-Zinc batteries—which are a niche, toxic, and expensive chemical process—or Otto Fuel II.

That is a net benefit; however, the process is still complex and would be a major technological feat for Canada. I should make note that while we don't currently produce torpedoes in Canada, Magellan specifically IS a major partner in the SeaSpider Anti-Torpedo Torpedo.

It isn't the same thing. I want to make note of that. However, they are similar to the point that it does provide some industry knowledge to working with undersea munition manufacturing, even if SeaSpider is still in development. Some people say it isn't, but it very much is.

LIG is also talking about cooperation with the likes of GeoSpectrum on Sonar Systems; however, I don't know exactly what this looks like from a Canadian perspective, and how much of the IP relates to this. However, having LIG Nex1, who manufacturers a significant amount of the internal systems to the KSS-III, on board and willing to be proactive is a major step that Team Korea needed to make the IP side of things work.

One advantage the Type 212CD has is that most of the IP is controlled by TKMS and Kongsberg, both major partners involved in the bid. LIG is technically outside of this, as are many others on the KSS-III, which always makes IP transfer and domestic benefits regarding the subsystems complicated.

Always better to limit the people you need to work with, and for the Prime to hold as much of the IP of their product as humanly possible when industrial and economic benefits are significantly on the table. As of now, we are again getting trickles of information, though I hope we will get some more big announcements this week from both sides! I'm confident in that.