South Korea courts Greece with submarine offer for new undersea fleet program.

South Korean company HD Hyundai Heavy Industries presented submarine options to the Hellenic Navy in Athens after a 15 October meeting at Navy General Staff, confirmed by the service. The bid leans on KSS-II experience and KSS-III participation, with a technology transfer plan aimed at Greek shipyards and potential financing via the EU SAFE instrument within Greece's 12-year naval package. 

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has moved into the Achilles program conversation with a formal Athens presentation of conventional submarine options, following a 15 October session at the Hellenic Navy General Staff that the service publicly acknowledged. The Korean yard is marketing a family of export designs that were showcased at MADEX 2025, roughly 800, 1,500, and 2,300 tons, while stressing serial production of KSS-II for Seoul and ongoing KSS-III work as proof of schedule discipline and systems maturity. For Greece, the pitch centers on local construction and a structured transfer of know-how into domestic yards, a path that could unlock low-cost EU SAFE loans and anchor a national supply chain as part of the government’s 12-year defense plan.
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HS Pipinos (S-121), Hellenic Navy Type 214HN, and reference for Greece’s new submarine plans. (Picture source: Hellenic Navy)

HHI seeks a role in the submarine segment of the Achilles program and highlights its experience with the KSS II family and its participation in KSS III, together with a proposal for technology transfer and ramp-up in Greek shipyards. Athens’ interest is not only about capability. A local build would make the project eligible for European funding via the SAFE instrument, anchoring jobs, processes, and a supplier base in support of the defense industrial and technological base. For a state bordering the Aegean straits and Levantine routes, this choice reduces external dependence and secures support during periods of tension.

HHI recalls a serial production run of KSS II for Seoul and ongoing upgrades, while the export market shows several sizes on the catalogue, unveiled at MADEX 2025, around 800, 1,500, and 2,300 tons to cover different employment profiles. European competitors field proven anaerobic propulsion lines and a logistics network already interoperable with NATO. On the customer side, the decision will rest on schedule performance, the learning curve absorption by Greek shipyards, ownership cost, and the ability to deliver operational crews within the timelines.

The Hellenic Navy sets a modernization course for undersea and surface forces, with the prospect of four new hulls and upgrades to the existing fleet, while aiming for a domestic share of about one quarter. The phased financial framework, extending beyond 2030, provides the backbone for a plan in which local shipyards are not mere executors but partners bound by quality, schedule and subsystem integration objectives. The SAFE tool, by imposing a European value chain logic, drives co investment, structured transfers and stronger overall resilience.

The Type 214HN Papanikolis boats, about 65 meters in length and roughly 1,860 tons submerged, carry eight 533 mm tubes for heavyweight torpedoes and, depending on configuration, UGM 84 anti-ship missiles. Propulsion combines a Siemens Permasyn motor and two HDW BZM120 fuel cell AIP modules of about 120 kW each, enabling slow, quiet transits over extended periods under strict EMCON. Any new series built in Greece will need, at a minimum, to match these parameters while offering sufficient software openness for the integration of future sensors and secure data links feeding RMP and COP.

In the Aegean, AIP endurance allows holding key points with limited movement, which preserves batteries for evasion and imposes a permanent zone of uncertainty on opposing escorts. In the Eastern Mediterranean, the same platform extends patrol arcs around choke points, contributes to the maritime picture, and provides discreet cueing for long-range effects delivered by other vectors. Interoperability with the used FREMMs under consideration and the FDI HN deliveries translates into stronger protection of SLOCs, better ASW coverage against modern MPAs, and an increased ability to generate a deterrent effect without excessive public exposure.

The strategic frame that includes SAFE and Achilles, therefore, points to a policy of managed autonomy. If Athens confirms construction in Greece to make European funding possible, the spillover effect on skills, digital tooling of shipyards, and lifecycle logistics appears immediately. At the same time, operational pressure persists between Gaza and Syria, with recurrent frictions with Türkiye and an increasingly dense ISR environment. Quieter submarines built locally, together with a surface fleet aligned with NATO needs, create a baseline of credibility in the Eastern Mediterranean, contribute to the protection of undersea infrastructure, and tighten Euro Atlantic alignment in a submarine domain that has returned to the forefront.