Spain's new S-81 submarine fights its first naval battle in India
The S-81 "Isaac Peral", the first Spanish submarine equipped with new generation technology has committed its first naval battle long before seeing the light of the Sun, being afloat and having been bathed by the waters of the Mediterranean.
When the Princess of Asturias, Infanta Leonor, in her capacity as godmother of the new ship, cut the ribbon that at midday on 22 April smashed the traditional bottle against the hull of the "Isaac Peral", she was not only inaugurating a new era for the Spanish Navy's war fleet.
It also endorsed a process of international projection led by the S-81 after having "aroused the interest" of navies from other countries and "opened the door" to the global market in a "highly technological" sector, in the words of Ricardo Domínguez, the president of Navantia, the public shipyard responsible for bringing the S-80 project to life.
The sea trials of the first of the series - the S-81 - on the surface and underwater, which will continue throughout 2021 and 2022, will be watched and analysed with the utmost attention by the navies of other nations. In particular, by the high command of the navy of one of Asia's two great military powers: India.
This is because it is on the Indian subcontinent that the first commercial, technological, and even diplomatic confrontation in which Navantia has involved the S-80 programme before it was even born is taking place. It is not going to be easy to win, because it is taking place in offices and with competitors of the highest level. The issue in which Navantia and its new submarine are involved is that they are taking part in the important international competition that the New Delhi government has launched.
Called Project 75 India or P75(I), the Indian Navy is in the process of renewing its war fleet with the construction of six advanced non-nuclear submarines but equipped with the stealthy technology of atmospheric independent propulsion or AIP. AIP propulsion is based on a fuel cell system, where hydrogen and oxygen combine to produce energy and water. New Delhi wants a new class of submersibles that can remain submerged for about three weeks to deter aggressive action by the Chinese and Pakistani fleets, which are vying for dominance of the Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean region.
The Spanish option is one of those being considered. But there are four other competitors, the competition is very complex, has many edges, and the final decision is influenced by a variety of factors. To begin with, the procurement budget is slightly more than 7.5 billion dollars and the construction of submarines must be carried out in the country itself under the "Make in India" policy advocated by the government. But the design and technology of the new boats must be provided by foreign industry, bearing in mind that the domestic manufacturing component must not be less than 65 %.
The project has seen ups and downs in its prioritisation and even stalled until the newly re-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided in January 2020 to take it forward and the Defence Acquisition Council of the Ministry of Defence took action. Its first step was to appoint state-owned Mazagon Docks Ltd. and privately owned Larsen & Turbo as national strategic partners, responsible for bringing the project to fruition. The five foreign shipyards with submarines equipped with different AIP models were then shortlisted.
Navantia is competing with its S-80 Plus submarine proposal; the German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems with its submersible type 214; the French Naval Group with the Scorpene 2000 or SMX Ocean. Russia's Rubin Design Bureau with its Amur 1650 and Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering with its KSS-III are also playing the game. All five companies have had to establish partnerships with Indian shipyards and their supply chain, bearing in mind that each of the five submarines uses different AIP technology.
For example, the German type 214 makes it possible by means of metal hydrides that feed the fuel cell, the French option tries to achieve it by reforming diesel, while Navantia's is through bioethanol. The outcome of the competition is still a long way off. The evaluation of the technical and financial proposals and the list of finalists will be announced by mid-2022 at the earliest. The Indian Navy already has 18 submarines of Russian, French and German design in service. Navantia will have to demonstrate the qualities of its S-81, and the Spanish authorities will have to make a major commitment.
While the above is taking place in the Indian subcontinent, the S-81 and its three twin brothers are inaugurating the technological renewal process of the Spanish offshore war fleet. For the Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral General Antonio Martorell, the new generation of submarines "increases the projection capacity" provided by the amphibious ships, the Marines and the embarked aviation which, together with the escort ships and the Maritime Action Force, constitute the "instruments that make the Spanish Navy relevant in the international context".
The military crew of the S-81 "Isaac Peral" will take over operations in February or March 2023, while Navantia is finalising the construction of the S-82 "Narciso Monturiol", which will be launched in December 2024. It will be followed by the S-83 "Cosme García" in October 2026 and the S-84 "Mateo García de los Reyes" in February 2028, the latter two already equipped with AIP.
The S-80 is a driving force for industry in the Cartagena region. It totals 19.9 million hours of productive work and another 6.6 million hours of engineering, which means the "creation of more than 6,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs", according to Navantia. Of all the jobs, "around 2,000" are generated in the Autonomous Community of Murcia, which represents 10% of industrial employment in the region and a contribution to the regional GDP of more than 200 million euros.
The programme has also generated significant workloads at other company centres, especially at Navantia Sistemas, in the Bay of Cadiz and Cartagena, where the simulators, integrated combat systems, platform control, communications and missile and torpedo launch management systems have been developed. The torpedo launcher tubes were manufactured at the Ferrol facilities.
On the scientific-technical side, the S-80 programme has benefited from the expertise of professors and technicians from the Universities of Seville and the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, the Foundations for Research, Development and Application of Composite Materials and for Research and Development in Transport and Energy, as well as the Naval and Sea Technology Centre of the Region of Murcia and the Northwest Metallurgical Research Association.
