Modern small submarines built for the Baltic have more in common with U-class operating logic than their German manufacture might suggest. German-built Type 209 and Type 212 boats, along with Scandinavian requirements, answer the same confined-sea design problem. Britain favors larger nuclear submarines for worldwide strategic commitments, although conventional boats could increase the number of hulls available alongside SSNs. In that force structure, conventional submarines would add numbers for suitable missions rather than replace nuclear boats across the board.
Notable Point · 45:56-47:47
The U-class legacy in confined-sea force design
Modern conventional submarines for the Baltic repeat the U-class logic of matching a compact boat to confined waters.