In the image
The S-81 in the waters of Cartagena, Murcia [Juanjo Fernández]
The S-81 Isaac Peral is commissoned to the Spanish Navy
November 30th— In a ceremony presided by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Asturias Leonor de Borbón (who is currently in her first year of military training at the Military Academy in Zaragoza), the Isaac Peral (S-81) submarine was officially commissioned to the Spanish Navy on November 30th, in an event that culminated more than two decades filled with technical difficulties and setbacks. The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles; the Chief of the General Staff (JEMAD), Almirante General Teodoro López Calderón and the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy (AJEMA), Almirante General Antonio Piñeiro Sánchez.
The Isaac Peral-class is named after Spanish naval officer and engineer Isaac Peral (1851-1895), who designed the first all-electric submarine, commissioned to the Navy in 1889. The S-81, christened in April 22, 2021 in Cartagena, is the first in a class of four diesel-electric attack submarines (SSK) designed and built completely in Spain, equipped with the integrated combat system and platform control system developed by Navantia.
After several complications throughout the construction process (which, among other things, prompted the ships to be bigger than originally intended), the first two units of the class, ‘Isaac Peral’ (S-81) and ‘Narciso Monturiol’ (S-82) will be diesel-electric submarines (SSK). The following two units, ‘Cosme García’ (S-83) and ‘Mateo García de los Reyes’ (S-84), expected to be commissioned in 2026 and 2028 respectively, will be SSK-AIP submarines, with an AIP plant providing them an endurance of about 3 weeks and which can be operated throughout the entire depth-range of the submarine.
The AIP BEST (Bio-Ethanol Stealth Technology) system was successfully tested in early September 2023, in the facilities of the Cartagena Shipyard. As previously reported, “the system is one of the major innovations incorporated in the S-80 Class submarines, which will provide conventional diesel-electric submarines with unprecedented tactical capabilities.”
During the last two years, the Spanish shipbuilder has put the S-81 under numerous tests and evaluations to certify the vessel’s optimum condition. The Isaac Peral-class is the first to be entirely built by the Spanish shipbuilder, which has filled the project with uncertainties during all these years. As explained by its Commander, LCDR Manuel Corral, Navantia “has taken it to its theoretical limits to adequately define and ensure its capabilities.”
In March 2023, the S-81 successfully performed its first dive tests. The static dive, which was performed in three phases at the Spanish Navy’s Diving Center in La Algameca (Murcia), allowed the submarine’s displacement to be verified, the transverse and longitudinal stability to be determined and the resulting draughts.
The S-80 program represents a major leap in technology and capabilities compared to its predecessor, the S-70-class, which is based on the French Agosta-class developed in the 1970s by Naval Group (then DCNS), putting Spain in the short list of countries that can design and build submarines. As of November 2023, both the S-71 ‘Galerna’ and S-74 ‘Tramontana’ remain in service in the Spanish Navy. While the former is expected to remain in service for some time, the Tramontana (currently deployed in the Mediterranean under NATO’s Operation Sea Guardian), is expected to be decommissioned in 2024.
The Isaac Peral Class is equipped with three primary weapons: the DM24A heavyweight torpedo, the UGM-84 Sub-Harpoon ASM, and seabed mines produced by the Spanish company SAES. It is also fitted to deploy Tomahawk LACMs. As previously indicated by H I Sutton, the Isaac Peral “is one of the largest non-nuclear submarines in the world. The long-range 2,965-ton boat will bring new capabilities to the Spanish Navy,” putting its submarine fleet up to date after years of low capabilities in the submarine domain.
The first mission for the S-81 will be to cross the North Atlantic, expected to last around 45 days.