BNS Tikuna (S34)

BNS Tikuna (S34) Story

The capabilities of the modern Brazilian Navy are slowly developing every decade due to the need to defend a considerable coastline. The country also represents one of the major powers on the South American continent and has placed a greater emphasis on the design, development and manufacture of domestic military equipment - powered by multiple product lines such as aircraft and submarines.

The Tikuna (S34) is a relatively new conventionally propelled attack submarine designed as part of the Tupi class. As part of a determined move to create a self-sufficient Brazilian army, the vessel was built at the local Brazilian naval shipyard and became the largest submarine ever attempted in the country's history. The ship originated from the German Type 209, which was launched in 1971 and completed in '61. These vessels serve Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Greece, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Peru, South Africa, Turkey and Venezuela, among other countries.

Many countries have also adopted policies to manufacture these ships locally to provide their navies with easy training in processes and operations.

The propulsion system of the Tikuna is a traditional diesel-electric arrangement, using a diesel engine for cruising on the surface and a battery to power the electric motor for cruising underwater. This arrangement is much cheaper and more dangerous than powering a nuclear reactor, but it lacks intrinsic motivation.

Nuclear propulsion is common in the world's top navies such as the US, UK, France and Russia, and others such as China and India have joined the ranks. The Tikuna was equipped with two sets of torpedo tubes, each set of 4 (8 tubes in total), and a crew of 36 people (including 7 officers).

Launched in March 2005 and commissioned on 21 July 2006, Tikuna remains active in the growing fleet of the Brazilian Navy.

Specification

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Performance

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