Image source: topwar.ru
The large non-nuclear submarine of the S-80 Plus project "Isaac Peral" S-81, which is a long-term construction of the Spanish fleet, is still not ready for transfer to the Spanish Navy. The timing of the transfer of the submarine to the military has again been postponed indefinitely.
The Spanish Navy's program to commission four new diesel-electric submarines of the S-80 project started in 2004. According to the plans of the Fleet command, by 2015 all four submarines were to become part of the Navy and regularly serve, guarding the coast of Spain. However, miscalculations in the design led to the weighting of submarines by 100 tons, which led to the impossibility of their operation. If the submarine sank to the bottom normally, then it could not surface. The project had to be redone.
The construction of the S-81 "Isaac Peral" headplane went on intermittently for 16 years. The submarine laid down in 2005 due to a design error was completed and launched only on April 22, 2021. At the end of May last year, the submarine was brought out for testing, it was planned to transfer it to the military in April-May 2023. However, the submarine again had some problems, possibly serious, as Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles rushed to the Navantia shipyard in Cartagena. According to available information, she held a conversation with the company's management, after which it was officially announced changes in the program for the delivery of submarines of this project "for technical reasons". Now the deadline for the transfer of the submarine to the military is simply called 2023.
Diesel-electric submarines of the S-80 project have a length of 80.8 meters and a width of 11.68 meters. The displacement of the ships is 3 thousand tons. The S-80 can reach speeds of up to 19 knots. The submarines are armed with six torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber for torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles.
In total, it was planned to build four large S-80 submarines to replace 4 diesel-electric submarines of the Agosta type. The submarines should receive a VNEU developed by Navantia together with Abengoa. The third submarine of the project will receive the first VNEU, the lead and first serial VNEU will be installed after the NPL is put into operation.
