The future Spanish Navy Submarine Isaac Peral S-80 was recently floated out at Navantia shipyard in Cartagena, Spain. With S-80 program, Spain becomes one of the few countries that can design and build submarines, an extremely complex task because these vessels must operate autonomously in a hostile environment. Therefore, represents a strong commitment with national technological development, and thus, with national defence as well as with the international positioning of Spanish industrial sector.
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. S-80 Plus-class submarines are designed to improve threat scenario missions. Low noise, magnetic, radar and infrared signatures in order to minimize detection. Therefore, S-80 has improved considerably its stealth capabilities, the main attribute of a submarine.
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. The S-80’s air-independent propulsion (AIP) system is based on a bioethanol-processor consisting of a reaction chamber and several intermediate Coprox reactors. Provided by Hynergreen from Abengoa, the system transforms the bioethanol (BioEtOH) into high purity hydrogen. The output feeds a series of fuel cells from UTC Power company.
The lead boat in the class, the Isaac Peral (S-81), the first unit in the series, was blessed by King Felipe VI and his daughter, Princess Leonor, heir to the throne, on April 22, 2021 at the Cartagena shipyards, and was planned to enter service in 2023, and the rest by 2025, 2027 and 2029 respectively. The S-80 class has also been offered for export.The S-80 stands as the world’s most advanced conventional submarines and has drawn the attention of several navies and opened opportunities in a highly technological international market.
