Shallow Water Combat Submersible vs Type 206 submarine

Shallow Water Combat Submersible — licensed reference photograph

ASubmarines

Shallow Water Combat Submersible

Submersible , diver propulsion vehicle

Credit

CAPT Kate Dollof · Public domain · Resized · Public domain · Source ↗ · Modified

BSubmarines

Type 206 submarine

Type 206A submarine

First system

Second system

At a glance

Side by side

Length comparisonOne shared metre scale

Shallow Water Combat SubmersibleLength

6.8 m

Length source ↗

Type 206 submarineLength

48.49 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

Shallow Water Combat Submersiblelarger figure on 0 of 3

None

Type 206 submarinelarger figure on 3 of 3

Length+613%
Beam+205%
Draught+187%

Counts only measures both sources give with the same scope. A larger figure is not a better system.

Measured figures

Head to head

16 of 30 rows sourced on both sides

6.8m

48.49m

Length+613%

All recorded figures & sources

6.8 m

Length

Single source

6.8 meters (22 ft)^[source]

48.49 m

Length

Single source

48.49 metres (159 ft 1 in)^[source]

1.5m

4.58m

Beam+205%

All recorded figures & sources

1.5 m

Beam

Single source

1.5 meters (4.9 ft)^[source]

4.58 m

Beam

Single source

4.58 metres (15 ft 0 in)^[source]

1.5mDraft

4.3mDraft

Draught+187%

All recorded figures & sources

1.5 m

Draft

Single source

1.5 meters (4.9 ft)^[source]

4.3 m

Draft

Single source

4.30 metres (14 ft 1 in)^[source]

500tSubmerged

Displacement

All recorded figures & sources

4.5 tonnes

Displacement

Single source

4.5 tonnes (5.0 short tons)^[source]

500 tonnes

Submerged

Single source

456 tonnes

Surfaced

Single source

456 tonnes (449 long tons), surfaced; 500 tonnes (490 long tons), submerged^[source]

62 crew, 4 passengers

Complement

All recorded figures & sources

6 people

2 crew, 4 passengers

Single source

6 (2 crew, 4 passengers)^[source]

22 people

Complement

Single source

22^[source]

11km/hMaximum; Speed

31km/hMaximum; Submerged

SpeedScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

11 km/h

Maximum; Speed

Single source

6 kn (11 km/h)^[source]

31 km/h

Maximum; Submerged

Single source

19 km/h

Maximum; Surfaced

Single source

10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), surfaced; 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph), submerged^[source]

—

8,300kmat 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), surfaced

Range

All recorded figures & sources

422 km

at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph), submerged

Single source

8,300 km

at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), surfaced

Single source

4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), surfaced 228 nautical miles (422 km; 262 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph), submerged^[source]

—

1,100kWelectric

Power

All recorded figures & sources

440 kW

diesel

Single source

1,100 kW

electric

Single source

440 kilowatts (590 hp) (diesel) 1,100 kilowatts (1,500 hp) (electric)^[source]

12h

—

Endurance

All recorded figures & sources

12 h

Endurance

Single source

12 hours^[source]

Bars compare reported quantities only. A larger figure does not make a system better; configurations and test conditions differ.

Configuration

Details

Shallow Water Combat Submersible and Type 206 submarine configuration
Specification	Shallow Water Combat Submersible	Type 206 submarine
Builders	Teledyne Brown Engineering^[source]	Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Nordseewerke^[source]
Operators	United States Navy Royal Navy (planned)^[source]	German Navy Colombian National Navy^[source]
Preceded by	SEAL Delivery Vehicle^[source]	Type 205 submarine^[source]
Cost	$383 million (program cost)^[source]	—
On order	7 USN, 3 RN^[source]	—
Building	2^[source]	—
Completed	2^[source]	18^[source]
Type	Submersible , diver propulsion vehicle^[source]	Type 206A submarine^[source]
Propulsion	Lithium-ion batteries powering electric motors^[source]	2 MTU 12V 493, 4-stroke diesel engines , each coupled with an Asea Brown Boveri - generator 1 Siemens -Schuckert-Werke electric motor driving single five (Type 206) or seven (Type 206A) blade propeller^[source]
Test depth	>190 feet (58 m)^[source]	more than 200 m^[source]
Sensors & processing systems	Inertial navigation system , high-frequency sonar for obstacle/mine avoidance and navigation, GPS^[source]	STN Atlas DBQS-21 (CSU83) submarine sonar Thomson-CSF DUUX 2 passive rangefinder sonar Safare VELOX sonar intercept EDO-900 active mine avoidance sonar Thomson-CSF Calypso II surveillance and navigation radar^[source]
Armament	SEAL team personal weapons, limpet mines^[source]	8 × 533 mm torpedo tubes , 8 DM2A1 Seeaal (206) or DM2A3 Seehecht (206A) torpedoes ; 24 mines can be carried externally^[source]
Country of origin	United States^[source]Inventory Origin column; table 2, row 5, cell 2; revision 1373375989; retrieved 2026-09-30	Germany^[source]
Succeeded by	—	Type 212 submarine , Type 209 submarine^[source]
Subclasses	—	Gal -class submarine^[source]
Built	—	1969–1975^[source]
In commission	—	1973–2011 (Germany) 2012–present (Colombia)^[source]
Active	—	2^[source]
Retired	—	16^[source]
Preserved	—	1^[source]
Electronic warfare & decoys	—	Thomson-CSF DR-2000U ESM system Thorn-EMI SARIE^[source]

FORCETALLY

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Shallow Water Combat Submersible

Type 206 submarine

Builders

Teledyne Brown Engineering^[source]

Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Nordseewerke^[source]

Operators

United States Navy Royal Navy (planned)^[source]

German Navy Colombian National Navy^[source]

Preceded by

SEAL Delivery Vehicle^[source]

Type 205 submarine^[source]

Cost

$383 million (program cost)^[source]

—

On order

7 USN, 3 RN^[source]

—

Building

2^[source]

—

Completed

2^[source]

18^[source]

Type

Submersible , diver propulsion vehicle^[source]

Type 206A submarine^[source]

Propulsion

Lithium-ion batteries powering electric motors^[source]

2 MTU 12V 493, 4-stroke diesel engines , each coupled with an Asea Brown Boveri - generator 1 Siemens -Schuckert-Werke electric motor driving single five (Type 206) or seven (Type 206A) blade propeller^[source]

Test depth

>190 feet (58 m)^[source]

more than 200 m^[source]

Sensors & processing systems

Inertial navigation system , high-frequency sonar for obstacle/mine avoidance and navigation, GPS^[source]

STN Atlas DBQS-21 (CSU83) submarine sonar Thomson-CSF DUUX 2 passive rangefinder sonar Safare VELOX sonar intercept EDO-900 active mine avoidance sonar Thomson-CSF Calypso II surveillance and navigation radar^[source]

Armament

SEAL team personal weapons, limpet mines^[source]

8 × 533 mm torpedo tubes , 8 DM2A1 Seeaal (206) or DM2A3 Seehecht (206A) torpedoes ; 24 mines can be carried externally^[source]

Country of origin

United States^[source]Inventory Origin column; table 2, row 5, cell 2; revision 1373375989; retrieved 2026-09-30

Germany^[source]

Succeeded by

—

Type 212 submarine , Type 209 submarine^[source]

Subclasses

—

Gal -class submarine^[source]

Built

—

1969–1975^[source]

In commission

—

1973–2011 (Germany) 2012–present (Colombia)^[source]

Active

—

2^[source]

Retired

—

16^[source]

Preserved

—

1^[source]

Electronic warfare & decoys

—

Thomson-CSF DR-2000U ESM system Thorn-EMI SARIE^[source]