The Japanese Naval Defence Forces launched the new Taigei submarine (the Big Whale). The ” the Big Whale ” is the first submarine of this class with a standard weight of 3000 tons and the largest ever for the submarines of the Japanese Maritime Defense Forces. It is scheduled to enter service in March 2022. It can stay underwater for long periods and is equipped with enhanced sonar. In addition to Taigei, the Japanese Navy possesses submarines of the Oyashio, and Soryu class, meaning blue dragon.
The new submarine is 84 meters in length and about 9 meters in width and accommodates a crew of up to 70 sailors. The total cost of construction is about 80 billion yen (approximately 750 million dollars) and is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, the same feature as the two Oryu and Toryu submarines that were used in March 2020 and enter service next year.
