July 23, 2008: Turkey is buying six German Type 214 submarines. The subs will be built in Turkey, and the first one will be in service in about six years. The Type 214 is a 1,700 ton, 202 foot long boat, with a crew of 27. It has four torpedo tubes and a top submerged speed of 35 kilometers an hour. Maximum diving depth is over 1,200 feet. The Type 214 is similar to the earlier Type 209 and Type 212.

The Type 214 also has a air-independent propulsion (AIP) system. This enables the sub to stay underwater for over a week at a time. Greece has already bought four Type 214s. The first one arrived two years ago, and the other three are being built in Greece. The Greeks encountered some excess heat problems with the AIP system, which had been developed, tested and used, until then, only in cooler Baltic and North Sea waters. The warmer waters of the Mediterranean required some modifications to the AIP system. South Korea is also an enthusiastic user of the Type 214, and Pakistan is negotiating to buy a few.