Margarita Robles visits the port city to learn first-hand about the evolution of the project
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, visited the Navantia shipyard in Cartagena on Friday to inquire about the evolution of the state-of-the-art submarine program S-80, the first to be entirely Spanish in design and construction, according to government sources in a statement. During her visit, Robles was able to see first-hand the evolution of the S-80 program calendar, which is carried out in compliance with NASA safety standards, a very complex weapons system comparable to an engineering challenge with space vehicles .
The minister highlighted the importance of a project that represents an achievement for the national defense industry by guaranteeing its strategic independence for the defense of the country, as well as the projection of its industry, and defined it as a “solid program”, in the that “Navantia, the Navy and Spain are at stake a lot”.
After her arrival at the San Javier Air Base, where she was received by Colonel Pascual Soria, the minister went to the Navantia shipyard in Cartagena, where she was welcomed by the president, Ricardo Domínguez, who thanked her for her presence. “This is a pioneering program, few countries in the world are capable of doing this. Our technology is cutting-edge and the design it entails will have to go through milestones that are sometimes challenging », said Domínguez in his speech.
Subsequently, the head of the S-80 program, Captain Francisco Javier del Corral, his test commander, Captain Juan Manuel Torrijos, and the director of the shipyard, Germán Romero, informed the minister about the general situation of the program, as well as about its industrial and technological relevance. Along the same lines, they addressed the high qualification of the personnel that will form part of the submarine’s crew, for which an exhaustive training plan for Navy personnel is being followed.
S-81 ‘Isaac Peral’
The minister, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Defence, Esperanza Casteleiro, by the Chief of Staff of the Navy (AJEMA), Admiral Antonio Martorell, and by the Navantia team, later visited the exterior of the S-81 ‘Isaac Peral ‘, where he thanked the members of the crew, who told him that they are “very excited” with the results of the latest tests and their next outing to sea.
The S-81 ‘Isaac Peral’, the first of the four submarines that make up the program for the Navy, is currently undergoing port trials, which will continue until March. Subsequently, it will make its first surface navigation, while its first dive is scheduled for June this year. Delivery to the Navy is planned for February 2023.
This same week, the ‘Isaac Peral’ successfully completed the mooring propulsion tests at the Navantia Cartagena facilities, where it was built. This is the sixth safety milestone that a submarine must pass and that allows verifying the operation of the propulsion and the line of axes with the submarine moored to the dock and with autonomous power from its batteries. In another of her safety milestones, the S-81 was launched last May in a ceremony presided over by King Felipe VI.
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