According to the Spanish shipbuilding association Navantia, on May 27, 2022, the lead large non-nuclear submarine S 81 Isaac Peral of the national project S-80 Plus (S-80A), built at its plant in Cartagena, went to sea for the first time for factory sea trials.
Going to sea for factory sea trials of the lead large non-nuclear submarine S 81 Isaac Peral of the S-80 Plus (S-80A) project. built for the Spanish Navy at the shipbuilding enterprise of the Spanish association Navantia in Cartagena, 27.05.2022 (c) Navantia
The Navantia Association's design and construction program for the Spanish Navy of four large non-nuclear submarines of the national S-80 project (later modified into the S-80 Plus / S-80A project) turned into a long-term epic. The design of the S-80 was started back in 1991. The contract for the construction of four boats of this project was issued by the Spanish Navy to the Izar association (now Navantia) in March 2004, with the planned delivery of the lead boat in 2011. Construction of the lead boat S 81 Isaac Peral was started in Cartagena in 2005, and the other three - from 2007 to 2010. Due to financial and technical problems and design errors, the construction of the boats was delayed for a long period, required repeated redesign and alterations, and the planned cost of the ships increased from the contract 1.756 billion euros to the currently planned 4 billion euros.
The lead boat S 81 Isaac Peral was pumped out of the boathouse of the shipyard only on April 16, 2021, the ceremony of launching the boat (formal launching) into the floating dock was performed on April 22, 2021, and the real physical launching from the floating dock was performed on May 7, 2021. The transfer of the lead boat to the Spanish Navy is scheduled for 2023.
Initially, all S-80 boats were planned to be equipped with an air-independent power plant (VNEU), the creation of which was carried out by the Spanish energy company Abengoa with the participation of Navantia since 2003, but its development was also significantly delayed. The Spanish air-independent power plant for submarines of the S-80 project is based on the principle of decomposition of bioethanol (BioEtOH) in special Coprox processor reactors to produce high purity hydrogen. The resulting hydrogen, together with oxygen, is fed into fuel cells developed by UTC Power. Oxygen is stored in liquid form in a cryogenic high-pressure tank. The carbon dioxide produced by the decomposition of bioethanol is removed overboard in a mixture with seawater. The power of the VNEU of the submarine of the S-80 Plus project is "at least 300 kW", and the duration of the stay and course of the boat in the underwater position should be 15 days.
Only in February 2020, the Navantia association announced the successful completion of bench tests of this VNEU and its readiness for mass production. Delays in development led to the decision to install the VNEU under construction only on the third (S 83 Cosme García) and fourth (S 84 Mateo García de los Reyes) submarines of the S-80 Plus project out of four under construction - it is planned that these two boats will enter service with the Spanish Navy only in 2026-2027. The first two boats of this type (S 81 Isaac Peral and S 82 Narciso de Monturiol) are being completed as diesel-electric (their commissioning is now expected, respectively, in 2023 and 2024) and should be equipped with VNEU only during their first medium repairs.
The submarines of the S-80 Plus project are large ships, having a total underwater displacement of 3,700 tons and a maximum length of 80.81 m.
Going to sea for factory sea trials of the lead large non-nuclear submarine S 81 Isaac Peral of the S-80 Plus (S-80A) project. built for the Spanish Navy at the shipbuilding enterprise of the Spanish association Navantia in Cartagena, 27.05.2022 (c) Navantia
Video:
