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ARCHIVED - Spanish Royal Family launch the first S-80 Plus submarine at Cartagena shipyard
17 years after construction started the first new sub is ready to take to the sea
The first of the new S-80 Plus class submarines was officially launched at the Navantia shipyard in Cartagena on Thursday morning when the Princess Leonor of Asturias, the elder daughter of King Felipe VI, cut the ribbon to send a specially selected bottle of wine crashing against the hull of the craft.
The S-80 Plus program is one of the most challenging from a technological point of view which have ever been undertaken by the Spanish defence sector, and the planning phase began as long ago as the 1990s as the need to replace and upgrade the S-70 class grew. Construction at the Navantia shipyard was given the green light by the national government 17 years ago with the original budget set at 1,800 million euros and a timeframe of 10 years, but a series of problems encountered since have delayed the project.
At one point certain technical parameters had to be re-designed with the help of the US Navy and the company General Dynamics Electric Boat, resulting in the budget swelling to 4,000 million euros and the deadline for the four boats to be operative having been extended to 2028.
The result of the adjustments made in collaboration with American advisers is that the S-80 is 10 metres longer than had originally been planned at 80.8 metres, with a diameter of 7.3 metres. Displacing 3,000 tons of water, its technological innovations include the combat and control platform and an anaerobic propulsion system which enables the sub to remain underwater for longer and makes it more difficult to detect. The S-80 Plus is fully equipped to fire missiles at land-based targets.
Once the Princess had officially launched the new submarine, she was not treated to the sight of it actually being immersed: contrary to the procedures at a normal launch ceremony, that process will be carried out separately next week as it is necessary to create more space in the water and further prepare the launch jetty.
Images @CasaReal