Probably a promising system. The problem is its a hail Mary defense and against certain navies I just dont see it as being all that effective. First off there is no defense like "not being detected" so this weapon would probably only be used if the boat was detected. Against a 1st world western Navy there would probably be more assets that could be vectored in to finish the boat off, assuming the helicopter didn't get a shot off in the first place. The USN has systems like ASROC so any surface ship could fire rocket launched torpedoes onto the position the chopper found the submarine in. We have any number of ways to launch antisubmarine weapons including from our own submarines, from surface ships either ship launched or ASROC fired from VLS systems, and from both fixed wing and helicopter airframes.
So the jig is up if the sub is found in the first place. Unless it has deep water to run under, and if it has that in the first place then its probably under the layers and the German 212 is so quiet it would be almost impossible to detect when its deep and running silent.
They mention this missile would have land attack uses as well but the warhead is so small how much damage could it possibly cause? Even against a surface ship? If the warhead is the size of a sidewinder then thats awfully small.
The Russians have had SAM systems for some of their submarines but offhand I cant remember their capabilities.
So this missile might be useful in some scenarios. But even in those there is no Navy in the world that wouldnt gladly sacrifice a Helo or two to kill a submarine like a 212.
Where the Germans are really leading the world is in the area of super high speed torpedoes. I think its called the "Barracuda".
