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Tupi

The submarine, of the Tupi Class, has Brazilian technology and German design. The construction of submarines, Class IKL-209 - serial number assigned by the manufacturer to the design of this submarine -, in the country represented the achievement of an important aspiration of the Navy. The global technological development, as well as the relationship between the countries, transformed the submarine into a weapon of fundamental relevance to the exercise of dominance at sea.

Ulrich Gabler, of the Ingenieurkontor Lübeck(IKL), responsible for the project of Type 209, must not have foreseen the success that its product would reach in the world-wide market of defense. Without a doubt Type 209 is a landmark in the naval project of conventional submarines of the last century. Probably, only the German Type XXI, constructed during World War II, either more significant. However, Type 209 if continuously showed a project advanced, safe and capable to be improved throughout some decades. E comes demonstrating in successive naval exercises, when manned and kept well, to be a deadly enemy even though for the SNA (submarinos nuclear of attack).

The attainment of new submarines was enclosed initially in the Program of Reaparelhamento of the Marinha (RPM), in its Revision of 1979. The studies for the choice of the to be acquired model selected only 03 models technical as modern (Agosta, 209 Type and Saury), being that Type 209/1400 finished being preferred for the its qualities techniques, the technology transfer, that the construction under license submarine it in Brazil would generate, and its package of financing.

In truth three contracts had been signed, two for the purchase of 04 Tupi(IKL 209/1400) and one third contract of assistance technique, that incluía the construction of a shipyard for the production of submarines in the Armory of Navy of Rio De Janeiro, as well as, of the 03 submarines to be constructed in the new shipyard. The first contract was signed in 1982 with the Trust Ferrostaal/Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft(HDW), being initiated then negotiations for the two others, being the last one celebrated in 1985. In this phase the construction of the first unit of the Classroom was initiated, as the picture above.

The first unit of the Tupi class, the S30, was produced in the shipyards of the German trust Howaldtswerke Deustche Werft (HDW) and commissioned in 1989. The others three boats enclosed for the contract - Tamoio, Timbira and Tapajós - had left the Armory of Rio De Janeiro, manufactured for Brazilian specialists. The supply agreement foresees transference integral of the technology.

In 1986, the Brazilian Navy requested from Nuclep the development and fabrication of the pressure hulls for serial production of IKL-1400 submarines. To undertake the task, Nuclep developed a highly sophisticated welding and fabrication process, devices, equipment and prototypes to reach "zero rejection" targets along all of the industrial production. In October 1992, three pressure hulls were shipped from Nuclep's private maritime terminal to the Navy Arsenal, in Rio de Janeiro. As a result of this work, in November of 1993, the "Tamoio", the first submarine made by the Brazilian industry, sailed to sea. It was christened in 1997. This winning partnership placed Brazil in the very select group of nations with the capacity to construct their own submarines.

The Tapuia, sixth submarine of the series, was cancelled. It will be substituted by a more ambitious enterprise, of the SMB-10, produced integrally in Brazil. The following phase, that contemplates the development of a moved model the nuclear propulsion, is foreseen for 2020.

The plans of revitalization of all the class foresee the incorporation of missiles antiship and spear mines. It is in study the job of the naval version of a missile of light cruise, with reach of 300 km Is in development in a military agency of research and also in at least one defense equipment national company.

The contract for the Tupi Class was only the first step inside of a much more ambitious plan, that involved the qualification so that inside of two decades the Brazilian Navy could, besides producing submarines conventional, to acquire to know to construct its first nuclear submarine of attack . Another important by-product of this program, was to make possible the total repair of conventional submarines in Brazil, with the accomplishment of only possible naval repairs before in the Europe. The submarine Tupi (S-30) passed for the first General PGM (Período of Maintenance), with the transversal cut of the hull for the exchange of batteries.

The 2013 Defense White Papaer stated that "The Submarine Development Program (PROSUB) may be highlighted. It includes the launching of four “Scorpène”41conventional submarines from 2016 on and one nuclear propulsion submarine from 2022 on; the building of specific docks and naval base; and the continuity of the Submarine Modernization Program (MODSUB) for the five currently available conventional submarines of “Tupi” and “Tikuna” classes..."

After 20 years of good services rendered to the Brazilian Navy, in the surveillance and protection of the so-called "Blue Amazon", an ocean area of ??4.5 million km² that concentrates natural wealth, the submarine Tamoio (S -31) started a new General Maintenance Period (PMG) in November 2014. The initiative, which takes place every six years, aims to reestablish the operating conditions of its equipment and systems.

According to the director of the Arsenal of Navy of Rio de Janeiro (AMRJ), Rear Admiral Mário Ferreira Botelho, maintenance follows strict quality criteria, which is essential to guarantee and rescue the submarine's operational capacity. "During this period, several mechanical, electrical and electronic systems are repaired, as well as structural inspections, including possible repairs to the resistant hull," explained the admiral.

At the beginning of the process, the submarine Tamoio was removed from the water and taken to an AMRJ warehouse. In this procedure, known as load-in , the submarine "lands" on top of a flooded raft, inside a dyke. After withdrawing the water, the raft is suspended, allowing the submarine to be moved and aligned to the shed, along with the raft. During the maintenance period of the Tamoio S31, the Tupi S30, Timbira S32, Tapajo S33 and Tikuna S34 submarines remain in operation in the patrol and surveillance of the national coast.

The Force of Submarines of the Brazilian Navy comes using of magnificent form the qualities of Project 209, as the fiche technique demonstrates. Type 209 is a deadly and quiet warlike vector for its small displacement. However, in sight of continuous the advance technician in the naval area, the Brazilian Navy already is constructing a successor for this Classroom, the "Improvid Tupi", or the Tupi Classroom, and projecting as a model called Smb-10 with a submerged displacement of 2,500 tons.

The Navy will incorporate five new submarines, currently under development, as a result of a partnership between Brazil and France. The agreement will make it possible to transfer technology from the Scorpé models. Four of these submarines are diesel-electric and in Brazil they will receive the S-BR nomenclature. The fifth submarine, with nuclear propulsion, will be manufactured at the Shipyard and Naval Base in Itaguaí (RJ), with totally national technology.

In January 2020 the Brazilian Navy (MB) concluded the understandings it had been maintaining since 2017 with the Marina de Guerra del Perú, to transfer to this Naval Force the “Tupi” (IKL-209) Timbira and Tapajó class diesel-powered attack submarines. The announcement of the commercial operation depended only on a green light from the buyer, who was finalizing internal bureaucratic procedures, but it should happen in the first quarter of 2020. The remaining two IKLs of the Tupi class - Tupi and Tamoio -, commissioned in May 1989 and July 1995 respectively, will remain in the window, waiting for a buyer, but the navy that could most easily be interested in them, from Argentina, due to the political differences that separate Presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Alberto Fernández, as an unlikely client. But by the end of 2020 nothing had come of any of these plans.

By February 2021 the Indonesian Navy was in an advanced stage of negotiations with the Brazilian Navy, to take two of the four IKL-209 submarines belonging to the Submarine Force (ForSub), which are being made available to the international market, due to the wide renovation of the flotilla of Brazilian submersibles. Indonesians operate two Type 209/1300 ships, commissioned in the early half of the 2000s, and three others, Type 209/1400, built by the South Korean group Daewoo under license from the German company Thyssen. The most modern of these 1400 boats - 405 Alugoro -, launched at sea on April 11, 2019, has yet to be formally commissioned by the Indonesian Naval Force, which is expected to happen in 2021.