Walrus Submarine

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The Walrus-class submarine is the only submarine class currently in operation in the Royal Netherlands Navy. They have been in service since 1990 and are all named after sea mammals.

The Walrus-class submarines are unusual in that instead of a cross-shaped assembly of stern diving planes and rudders, they mount four combined rudders and diving planes in an "X" configuration. This tail configuration was first tested in 1960 on the United States Navy's USS Albacore, and has since been used by the Walrus class, all Swedish Navy submarines since the Sjöormen class, the Royal Australian Navy's Collins class, the German Type 212A and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's Sōryū class.

The submarines were in high demand by NATO during the Cold War since they combined a highly skilled crew with a very silent boat. At that time the majority of NATO submarines were either nuclear or brown water subs, with the Walrus class being among the rare blue water diesel electric submarines in service.

After the Cold War, the subs have been tasked for many highly confidential intelligence gathering operations (still classified) in the Yugoslavian region, Iran, Iraq and the Caribbean often on request of Allies, including the United States.

In June 2010, the Netherlands agreed to deploy one submarine to help combat piracy in the waters off Somalia In November 2016, the Russian Navy claimed to have chased off a Walrus-class vessel from a battle group that included the Admiral Kuznetsov.

Upgrade program

In 2007, the Dutch cabinet approved an upgrade of the four operational vessels and recruitment of additional crew to improve overall operational availability. The upgrades are focused on near-shore operations and integration with new weapons. These include:

• the migration from the current MK 48 mod-4 torpedo to the mod-7 version
• replacing one periscope with a non-hull-penetrating optronic mast from L-3 KEO which enables the submarine to capture HD footage both day and night
• addition of a Mine & Obstacle Avoidance Sonar by ELAC Nautik
• refurbishing of the pressure hull
• introduction of a new combat management system

In November 2014 the Dutch Minister of Defence announced plans to replace the Walrus-class submarines in 2025.