An event was held at Navantia’s Shipyard in Cartagena this morning to commemorate the closure of the pressure hull of the S-81 “Isaac Peral” submarine, after completing the joining of the last section of the ship. The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Director General of Programmes of the DGAM, General Salvador Álvarez Pascual; the Admiral Chief of the Cartagena Arsenal, Vice-Admiral Aniceto Rosique Nieto; the Admiral Director of Naval Engineering & Construction, Vice-Admiral Manuel Martínez Ruiz; the Admiral of the Logistics Division of the Chief of Staff (Navy), Gonzalo Sanz Alisedo; the Naval Systems Area Director of the DGAM, Nicolás Lapique Martín, and the S-80 Programme Director, Javier del Corral. The Business & Operations Director, Gonzalo Mateo Guerrero-Alcázar; the Shipyard & S-80 Programme Director, Agustín Álvarez Blanco; the Director of Navantia Sistemas, Vicente Santamaría Calvario and the S-80 Programme Office Director, Ignacio Núñez attended on behalf of Navantia.
The ceremony began with a brief visit to the submarine outfitting building, where the party was shown the progress being made on the construction of both the S-81 and the S-82 submarines, located on Slipways 1 and 2 of the submarine outfitting building, respectively. There then followed a brief presentation of the submarine construction process, after which the Director of Cartagena Shipyard and the Deputy Director General of Programmes of the DGAM addressed those present, emphasizing the importance of the occasion and the value of the S-80 submarine programme.
The closure of the pressure hull is a major milestone in submarine construction, as this makes it a complete vessel. Prior to the closure, all the main modules have been fitted and sections have reached a very high level of completion. The next step is to complete the outfitting work and to begin the testing stage.
This milestone means a change of phase in the construction works. The work on the submarine will now be focused on its launching, following a formal and regulated process, based on overcoming safety milestones. This process begins with the energizing milestone, when the submarine starts to receive current in its main switchboard; followed by the battery loading milestone, enabling the ship to be autonomous in generating energy, and culminates with the launch milestone itself, when the submarine is moved to the outfitting berth, where the harbour tests commence.
The S-80 is the most advanced conventional submarine in the world. Its main particulars are:
- Length 80.81 m
- Total Beam 11.68 m
- Total Moulded Depth 13.69 m
- Diameter: 7.30 m
- Surface/immersion displacement: 695 / 2,965 t
- Accommodation: crew of 32 + 8 special forces
- Long-range conventional submarine equipped with air-independent propulsion
- Extremely low acoustic signature
- Excellent manoeuvrability at low speed
- Highly automated systems
- Latest-generation combat system
- State-of-the-art Air-independent Propulsion System (AIP)
- Highly complex integrated design
