No special armor.
Actually, the brit version needs that special armor for V/STOL ops. Not the french.
But there are really reasons for the gain of weight.
It was well explained in the last proposal by the builder.

This very large model of the latest DCN/Thales PA2 “Projet Juliette” concept was displayed on the DCN stand at Euronaval in October 2004, compared to Romeo the island has been substantially modified, and a bulbous bow added to the hull form. The large radar dome would have been replaced by a Herakles “pyramid” inside a cone.

Note that there is only one island, with a deck edge lift just forward of it and another aft. There is no noticeable resemblance between this design and the much smaller model of CVF that was simultaneously displayed on the stand.

http://navy-matters.beedall.com/pa2-1.htm

They going to float it around in the bathtub again or take it on a REAL deployment?

Hope they don’t forget the high sea tugs…
Remember 2004, Atlantic deployment?
Russia is not a power anymore. Not even regional.

Gouvernement sponsored racism I would say.
Starting in elementray school. Very effective and so convenient…

I am not sure to understand what you wrote.
Oyashio and -471 have not “teardrop” shape, but “leaf” hull shape.

The X-type rudder arrangement is rather for coastal use (i.e. posing).
Something a nuke can’t do.

Yes, they are intended for long-range missions, indeed, hence they are big and have a huge reserve of energy. But they are not intended to make the job of a nuke.

Finally, the T-1400 (aka Victoria/Upholder) is not in the same category, but in the Kilo/S-80/Walrus class (2,000t).

Fuel-cell technology is not that mature yet.
And the price is really a matter (even for the SDF).

… with the interoduction of the Sterling AIP system our Collins are to gain extra length, the only question is when is this going to happen? …

I was talking with ppl from ADI involved on the submarine program, and it was clearly stated by the RAN and procurement, that the AIP will not be fit in the current Collins (T-471) class.
Stirling Oyashio will be launched next year.

Also the much awaited TLAM capability will add further length to these boats but I think this dream has slipped back into the realms of fantasy.

Indeed.

At the times of Construction our subs were thwe biggest but the Japanese have upped the stakes again but then again they are very capable builders of these vessels, we are not, they have been building these boats for a very long time, the Collins are our first.

Well, 471 Collins was launched in Aug. 1993 .
SS 590 Oyashio was launched in Oct. 1996.

… and fittout of a new battle management system and fire control computer (actually the BQY-1 as fitted to the USS Seawolf class). These systems will make these vessels the most capable Diesel electric subs in the world.

I will not praise here how a mistake it is to integrate the CCS MK2 into an SSK.
Even you have the biggest elec power available inside, you are not going to have the infinite power like an SSN.
We will see that on operations.

The fact that the Japanese have a crew of 70 in their subs and we have a crew of just under 60 speaks volumes of the amount of automation we have packed into these subs.IIRC the Japanese subs are only one deck with a sub deck, our Collins are two decks with a sub deck (a sub deck is a half deck below the floor usually containing a storage area for food and supplies, it has the cold storage and freezer rooms as well. Our Subs also have a mixed crew, the Japanese do not this has also nessitated the sleeping arangements on the collins to reflect a mixed gender, the female crew sleep forward on 01 deck (above the forward torpedo tubes), while the males sleep aft on 02 deck, just forward of the engine room. As always the4 officers get their quaters amid ship on 01 deck.

Crew number is mainly a cultural thing.
US has more crew then russians.
And it was in the original specification to have a reduced crew on the 471s.
Oyashio has a 3-full-deck layer.

If it came down to a war, I’d be backing the Japanese navy since not only do they know more about sub warfare but they know their ships very well.

They have been operating submarines for more then 100 years, and building them since 1907.

Well I hope I haven’t disappointed anyone.

Don’t think you did.

7,000 meter deep diving submersible, full engineering developement model, which has already been successfully tested. The second deepest diving submersible is made in Japan…

That false!
Not second :Bathyscaphe Trieste
And there are more…

On January 23, 1960, it reached the ocean floor in the Challenger Deep, carrying Jacques Piccard (son of Auguste) and Lieutenant Don Walsh, USN. This was the first time a vessel, manned or unmanned, had reached the deepest point in the sea. The onboard systems indicated a depth of 37,800 ft (11 521 m), although this was later revised to 35,813 ft (10 916 m), and more accurate measurements made in 1995 have found the Challenger Deep to be slightly shallower, at 35,798 ft (10 911 m).