The waters of the island of Escombreras, in the bay of Cartagena, woke up today with an unconventional image, at least in times of peace: a group of Navy ships flanking a modern submarine, a submersible weapon prepared to launch Tomahawk missiles and Sub-Harpoon or DM2 and A4 torpedoes. And that among other lethal projectiles with which to attack enemies.
However, the military deployment on the coast of Murcia has little to do with the war. Or at least that is not his immediate objective. The purpose was to start testing the submersible S-81alias “Isaac Peral”, the brand new submarine manufactured for the Spanish Navy.
The ship left Navantia early in the morning, took a test lap to test its engines and propellers and returned to the shipyard to continue with a demanding plan of surface and immersion tests that will allow those responsible to polish any detail that can still be improved. .
A project that dates back to the 90s
Its objective, very clear: to be in the hands of the Spanish Navy in just one year, april 2023, and finally take over from the S-74 Tramontana, a submersible from the S-70 series. The one that will continue to be operational for several years is the S-71 Galerna, which in principle will remain active until 2027.
S-81, Isaac Peral, will be the first submarine of the S-80 plus class, a program activated in 2003 and for which the Navy will acquire four submersible ships: the S-81 itself, the S-82 Narciso Monturiol, the S-83 Cosme García and S-84 Mateo García de los Reyes, the four named after pioneers in the development of Spanish submarines or, as in the case of Mateo García de los Reyes, recognized military personnel in the Navy. In total, the program will cost around 3,900 million euros, an amount that includes -he specifies The radar— the Cartagena land simulator.
Submarine #S81 in waters of #Cartagena 🇪🇸⚓️#S80 #SSK @armada_esp @Defensagob pic.twitter.com/ZyUVpzUc0A
– Official Navantia (@NavantiaOficial) May 27, 2022
Return to port of #S81IsaacPeral after his first outing to sea 🇪🇸⚓️@Armada_esp @Defensagob
#S80 #SSK #Cartagena pic.twitter.com/xS133r1bpa– Official Navantia (@NavantiaOficial) May 27, 2022
We already have the first images of the submarine S-81 “Isaac Peral” sailing in the sea. Bravo!!👏👏 pic.twitter.com/KopWHwY1nY
– Ministry of Defense (@Defensagob) May 27, 2022
When the Isaac Peral is delivered to the army, Navantia will achieve the first milestone in a major order, so complex that —the shipyard itself recently pointed out— they have needed three million hours work to shape it. More, much more, than the 50,000 it takes to make an airplane. In fact, the program began to be planned at the end of the last century, in the 1990s, and the work to compose the submersible started almost a decade ago, in 2004.
The S-81 Isaac Peral has a length of 81 meters, a beam of 11.6, a diameter of 7.3 and a draft of 6.3. Its displacement in immersion is close to 3,000 tons and submerged it reaches 19 knots, a speed that is lowered to 10 on the surface. As for autonomy, around 50 days.
On board the Navantia submersible carries six torpedo tubes I a combat system developed with US technology that incorporates tactical missiles for ground targets. A whole deployment that will allow it to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance tasks or carry out submarine attacks, on the surface and also on specific targets located on land.
The task is not easy and it has faced difficult moments, such as when in 2013 a problem was detected in the design that compromised its ability to float and forced the 80 series to give a “growth” and go from its 71-meter length initials to 80.81 and add the “plus” tagline. Overcome the toughest moments, the submersible is now undergoing tests and the S-80 class has aroused the interest of other states, such as Colombia or Canada, which are considering acquiring them for their fleets.
Images | Navantia and Rubén Somonte MDE
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism