According to information published by ABC News on June 1, 2021, the Australian Navy is considering the Type 214 submarine built by the German firm ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems before the delivery of the Attack-class submarine program expected to enter service in the early 2030s.
The Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW). It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cells.
The class is exclusively designed for the export market. The submarine class combines the design principles of the Type 209 family and the features of the Type 212A submarines. However, as an export design, it lacks some of the classified technologies of the smaller Type 212, the most important of which is probably the non-magnetic steel hull, which makes the Type 212 submarine difficult to detect using a magnetic anomaly detector.