Diesel-electric submarine context;
One of the great disadvantages of
nuclear submarines is the vast cost of the
power plant and the required supporting
infrastructure. These costs have limited the number of nations operating nuclear submarines.
The holy grail of submarine designers since WWII has been a power plant that does not require air, yet provides endurance and
performance approaching that of a nuclear submarine. To date, this level of performance has not been met. Several systems provide short bursts of greater speed and submarged endurance, but not long term increases. Current systems take up a great deal of the limited weight and volume available to the submarine designer. In addition, they require the use of toxic chemicals or dangerous substances such as
liquid oxygen or
hydrogen peroxide.