Let's Talk about the Munitions of the Type-212CD

Welp. You knew this was coming.

Of course, if I took the time to talk about the KSS-III munitions, I would find the time to tackle the Type 212CD too.

I find that the Type 212CD, despite having a fairly smaller pool of munitions, often has the most confusion in conversations. Everyone knows Hyunmoo. Everyone knows what the KSS-III is packing.

However, with the 212CD, the information available online varies greatly. There are numerous contradictions—some due to outdated info, and others simply because TKMS doesn’t really like to discuss things.

That’s not inherently a bad thing. With these kinds of developments, the integration of munitions is often tied to potential clients’ requirements. If there is no demand for a munition, why bother integrating it?

At first glance, the 212CD seems to suffer from this phenomenon. As of right now, we still lack any confirmed missile capability for the 212CD. Usually, I would not include them as listed munitions because of that.

If you remember last week’s article on the KSS-III, I purposefully tried not to list future or planned munitions. I did give some mention to a future subsurface-to-air missile; however, I purposely ignored discussing several hypotheticals.

Despite the lack of confirmation, I’m fairly certain we will see all of these on the 212CD at some point. There is a mandate in place for the German Navy to explore future maritime strike options, and submarines are likely to play a role in that.

Even then, having the capability available is always a nice-to-have. It doesn’t always have to be a matter of yes or no. Integrating new systems as a form of futureproofing also has extreme value, especially given how potential demands in a peer conflict could shift the value of certain capabilities over others.

So, in the name of fairness and proper assessment, we’ll be including several of those potential missiles here. I think there are reasonable grounds to expect them to be available. Certainly, the Royal Canadian Navy believes so—and if they’re considering them in assessments, then so should I.

We’re going to do this just like before, with an added note that I will not be discussing UxV at this time. This isn’t to ignore those capabilities. You guys know I love unmanned stuff. I love them so much I want to do a separate piece about them.

I bring this up because several of you asked about their exclusion last week—and no, the Mobile Mine does not count in my books. So I wanted to clear up that we won’t be including them.

While again not confirmed, the Type 212CD maintains several potential options for anti-ship and land-attack missiles capable of fulfilling Canada’s land-based strike requirements. Let’s start with the big one.

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Name: 3SM Tyrfing

Class: Submarine-launched, Anti-Ship/Land-Attack Cruise Missile

Range: 800–1000 kilometers (reportedly)

Top Speed: Mach 2–3

The future anti-ship/land-attack missile of the German and Norwegian navies, the Supersonic Strike Missile Tyrfing, is an in-development anti-ship cruise missile designed to complement the smaller Naval Strike Missile.

The missile is being designed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace of Norway in partnership with Diehl Defence and MBDA Deutschland of Germany. It will provide a long-range, supersonic anti-ship (and possibly land-attack) capability for future Norwegian and German naval vessels from around 2035 onwards.

We don’t actually know much about this missile. It was announced in November 2023 as a joint project between Germany and Norway. A partnership agreement brought Diehl Defence and MBDA Deutschland into the fold in May of last year.

Funding for the missile was secured quickly afterwards, with the Norwegian Defence Material Agency committing NOK 1.5 billion (~US$141 million) and the German Bundestag committing €650 million up to 2033 for its development.

As of now, the allocated German funding only extends to 2028, and additional funding will be needed to continue development. Thanks to Naval News for that info.

Despite the missile being early in development, we do have some publicly available information about the expected outcomes of the Tyrfing program. Officials describe Tyrfing as having a cruise speed in the Mach 2–3 range and an aspirational range of 800–1000 km.

Program materials and industry reporting state the project will leverage solid-fuel ramjet technology demonstrators developed under the US/Norway THOR-ER (Tactical High-speed Offensive Ramjet for Extended Range) program.

Outside this baseline info, we don’t really know much else. Keep in mind this was only announced two years ago and remains in early development. We shouldn’t expect too much technical detail for a while.

Similarly, while not confirmed, there is an acceptance that there will be a submarine-launched variant of Tyrfing. I’ve discussed this topic enough with others to be confident in that assessment. It will also reportedly be available both as an option for Mk.41 and in its own canister.

Tyrfing is designed to complement NSM. It is a higher-end companion and should not be treated as one or the other. We are likely to see both in use simultaneously.

As a concept, it is very similar to the Haeseong-V ASCM discussed last week. Both are ramjet-powered, tube-launched, anti-ship cruise missiles with reported land-attack capabilities. Tyrfing takes it a step further by doubling the range of the existing Haeseong-V.

The ability to strike naval or land targets at distances nearly 1000 km away is a terrifying proposition for any submarine. Submarines already hold the advantage when it comes to detecting and striking from outside the range of most surface vessels, except when aided by dedicated anti-submarine helicopters or maritime patrol aircraft.

Extending that distance by several hundred kilometers with a supersonic anti-ship missile helps mitigate those threats, keeping the submarine farther from detection and engagement ranges.

Traditionally, once a submarine is found, it’s game over. A located submarine is a dead submarine. However, the farther out you can launch, the better the chance to escape. Launching a missile is guaranteed to reveal your location—so range matters.

Tyrfing gives the Type 212CD a long-range strike capability that offers distance from the purview of Russian MPA and helicopters. Of course, for those, the 212CD has something else to deal with that threat.

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Name: Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines (IDAS)

Class: Subsurface-to-Air Missile

Range: ~20–40 km

Top Speed: ~240 m/s

In the event it encounters a hostile aircraft, the Type 212CD is supposed to have its own self-defense capability. This is the Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines—or IDAS.

IDAS is a lightweight, tube-launched, multi-role missile developed by a German-led consortium (Diehl Defence, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems/HDW) with partners including Kongsberg, Nammo, and Roketsan.

Designed to engage helicopters, small surface vessels, and select land targets, IDAS measures roughly 2.8 m in length and 18 cm in diameter, with a launch weight around 100 kg. It uses a solid-fuel rocket motor and an imaging-infrared seeker for terminal homing. Commonly cited performance figures place its top speed at 240 m/s with ranges between 20–40 km.

IDAS is stored inside a standard 533-mm torpedo tube. After underwater ejection, it transits up through the water column, breaks the surface, and ignites its rocket motor. During flight, it’s linked to the launching submarine via a fiber-optic datalink that spools out from the missile’s aft.

An example of how IDAS works in theory

A single ejection container carries four IDAS missiles, quad-packed. At least one of the six torpedo tubes on the Type 212CD is likely to always be dedicated to storing IDAS.

You’ll note that I said it’s supposed to have this capability. That’s because IDAS is still in development, with current plans aiming for full service by 2029.

I’m young. You all remind me daily. I’m still a man with three kids, about to turn 25 next month. IDAS performed its first test trials back in 2003, when I was two years old. By the time it’s in service, it will have gone through a quarter of a century of development hell.

IDAS is a last-resort weapon. It’s meant to give the 212CD some kind of self-defense capability against helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft. It’s a commendable effort, but given its difficult development history, limited use case, and lack of evidence that it works as intended, I’m hesitant to give much credit to IDAS as a capability.

It could prove me wrong. I hope it does. But I don’t think it will be as effective as advertised, nor do I think it will save a submarine like the 212CD if it’s being hunted. It may work against lone or isolated ASW assets, but even that’s debatable.

Still, it forms a core part of the 212CD’s design philosophy. It’s an important layer, as evident by all the work being put into it. The 212CD is designed to survive in the littoral and contested waters of the Baltic and Norwegian seas, and similar European environments.

That includes heavy contention from Russian MPA and anti-submarine helicopters. That’s why the 212CD prioritizes stealth with its diamond-shaped hull, use of non-magnetic materials, X-shaped rudder, raft-mounted machinery—all working in tandem to create as stealthy a platform as possible, even at other sacrifices. IDAS adds one more layer, giving the 212CD a small chance to survive if discovered.

At least that’s the theory. We’ll see how it plays in practice.

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Name: Sub-Launched Joint Strike Missile

Class: Anti-Ship Missile

Range: 200–300 km (estimate)

The last piece of the puzzle, the low end. The idea of taking the Naval Strike Missile and integrating it onto a submarine has existed for over a decade. Proposed models of this concept were shown off years ago, and Kongsberg has been trying to sell it ever since.

Funny enough, the sub-launched NSM is based off the Joint Strike Missile due to size restrictions. The Spanish initiated studies last year about integrating it onto the Isaac Peral-class as a replacement for the sub-launched Harpoon, with the Dutch joining the effort.

While Germany and Norway have not officially joined, the concept has gained a lot of interest—and the fact that it’s a Kongsberg product makes it almost guaranteed to make its way eventually.

It would be a cheaper, lower-end complement to Tyrfing, allowing it to focus on high-value targets. Having cheaper options is great for a platform like this—something I wish we saw on the KSS-III.

Details on what exactly this would look like are lacking. We know it would be a subsonic, tube-launched anti-ship cruise missile. The range is likely around 200–300 km, though that’s speculation.

Even without specifics, it’s still a JSM, featuring the same low-signature design and 120 kg warhead. Importantly, it shares some commonality with the NSM destined for the River-class and likely the Continental Defence Corvette. JSM and NSM share roughly 50–60 percent commonality, but that’s still significant.

It presents a future option—probably the most likely to appear first—especially as development is being pushed by multiple European navies seeking a similar capability.

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Torpedoes and Other Tube-based Systems

Like the KSS-III, TKMS advertises that the 212CD can integrate multiple NATO torpedo types.

Germany and Norway have already started work on the successor to the DM2A4, the Common Heavy Weight Torpedo (CHWT), which began this year. We know little about it, other than that it will be more advanced than the DM2A4—possibly a broader evolution of the DM2 family.

The DM2A4 remains the premier German heavyweight torpedo, 6.6 m in length with a 1,530 kg launch weight. It uses a high-frequency permanent-magnet electric motor powered by modular battery packs and a closed-loop cooling system to achieve speeds up to 50 knots and ranges around 50 km depending on configuration.

It features fiber-optic wire guidance, a conformal sonar array with wake-homing capability, and a large PBX warhead (~260 kg). The weapon’s digital architecture, advanced signal processing, and ECCM make it highly resistant to countermeasures.

The Italian Black Shark torpedo is another potential alternative. Slightly smaller at 6.3 m, it uses an electric contra-rotating brushless motor fed by high-energy batteries, with similar range and speed performance. It also features fiber-optic guidance and a sophisticated multi-mode sonar head with advanced processing and ECCM.

Like the KSS-III, Canada could pick outside these options if desired. Interestingly, CHWT development is early enough that Canadian content could potentially be included—Magellan Aerospace, for instance, could play a role.

That leads to the last system: SeaSpider.

SeaSpider is a hard-kill anti-torpedo torpedo (ATT) designed to detect, localize, and destroy incoming torpedoes near ships or submarines. It’s a “sensor-to-shooter” system that receives tracks from onboard sonar, classifies threats, then launches a small, fast interceptor torpedo.

It measures 1.94 m in length, 210 mm in diameter, and weighs about 107 kg. It uses a solid-rocket motor for rapid acceleration and a small warhead optimized to rupture or disable an incoming torpedo.

Magellan Aerospace’s role is in designing, developing, and qualifying the rocket motor and warhead sections. This is currently Canada’s most significant contribution to the 212CD program.

SeaSpider has been in development since 2016 but traces back to early work by Atlas Elektronik and the Dutch TNO in the early 2000s. Germany reportedly plans to begin acquisition next year.

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The Lynx

If the KSS-III was a Tiger, the Type 212CD is a Lynx—quiet, calculating, and tuned to its surroundings. It doesn’t chase; it waits, watching from the shadows until the perfect moment to strike. Its power lies not in size but in precision. Every movement deliberate, every system built to reduce noise and avoid attention.

When it attacks, it does so cleanly—a Tyrfing cutting through distance, an IDAS fired upward to swat a threat before it knows it’s been seen. It’s designed to be the ocean’s greatest stalker.

Of course, that would be truer if most of its weapons systems were actually in use. Of all the weapons listed, almost none are currently in service. Most are either planned for the next decade or still in development.

While many of these should be ready before Canada receives its first Type 212CD, there’s still the elephant in the room: we have to hope they all work and arrive on time.

Even Tyrfing—the core piece, the only real long-range strike capability—isn’t set to enter service until 2035, after our first sub is delivered. That’s if the timeline holds. IDAS 2029, JSM-SL eventually? Even the new torpedoes lack firm timelines.

All of these sound great, and together they would easily meet our demands—but right now, most exist only on paper.

It’s hard to compare this to the KSS-III’s Haeseong-III/V family, which already exists, is in service, and will likely be upgraded again before Tyrfing even enters service.

Still, I’m confident we’ll see all of these eventually. But we must acknowledge the risks. A decade is a long time, and many of these weapons are still in early stages or long-troubled development cycles.

One sub has too much focus on this subject. The other has a perfect balance—but that balance exists only as a concept.

Lord pray for the CPSP team. I don’t know how they do this.