The future submarine of the Spanish Navy was christened during a grand ceremony on 22 April 2021.
According to Navantia, the first-in-class submarine was placed in a floating dock on Wednesday and launched on Friday.
“[The floating dock was] submerged by flooding its ballasts, the submarine beginning to touch the water and, little by little, to float by itself, while Navantia and crew personnel carried out various safety checks inside the ship. Then, with the help of the pilots, the tugboats and pushers removed the submarine from the interior of the dock and transferred it to the fitting dock. The submarine lacks operational propulsion until the mooring port tests have been performed.”
Navantia
Along with the management of Navantia and the Cartagena shipyard, the Secretary of State for Defense, Esperanza Casteleiro and personnel from the General Directorate of Armament and Material (DGAM) attended the maneuver; in addition to those Spanish Navy officiers.
“The launch is a safety milestone in the construction of the submarine and it is also a great event for Navantia and its professionals and for all those involved in this great project. All together, the Navy, the Ministry of Defense, Navantia and its collaborating industry are taking a qualitative leap in our strategic capabilities and our projection in the international market,”
Navantia’s president, Ricardo Domínguez
According to Navantia, the sea trials of Isaac Peral will begin in the first quarter of 2022 and a year later it will be handed over to the Spanish Navy. The S-80 submarines have an overall length of 80.8 metres, a diameter of 7.3 metres, and a submerged displacement of around 3,000 tonnes. They include the integrated combat system and platform control system developed by Navantia Sistemas. They will have BEST-AIP, an atmosphere-independent propulsion system, which supplies the ship with electrical power at any depth so that it can remain underwater for longer periods.
To learn more on the S-80 class submarine, check out this in depth analysis by H I Sutton:
