every time i hear about the Navantia S-80 Isaac Peral class, i have a hard time suppressing a giggle.
Do you know
this story:
Too heavy, too long: the incredible blunder of Spanish submarines
Due to a stupid miscalculation, the Spanish submarine S-80 could dive but could not float. The engineers decided to lengthen it by 10 m, to improve its buoyancy. Problem, the base of the port of Cartagena is now too short to accommodate it... For ten years, errors, delays and additional costs have been accumulating for this 4 billion euro project.
(...) Too heavy by 100 tons
The Spanish Navy had ordered, in 2003, 4 S-80 type submarines from the Navantia shipyard, to replace its fleet of aging Agosta. A project then estimated at 2 billion euros. But not everything went as planned for the Spaniards: in 2013, we discovered that the S-80, whose construction was already well advanced, was too heavy… by 100 tonnes. An overweight which causes a serious problem of buoyancy and which could prevent it from rising to the surface.
According to an official, interviewed by the American news agency AP, "someone had placed a comma after the wrong decimal place and no one had bothered to check the calculations".
Penaud, the Spanish Ministry of Defense appealed (for 14 million euros) to the Americans of Electric Boat to find a solution. Verdict: you have to lengthen the boat to improve its buoyancy. Instead of 71 m long for 2,200 tons, the submarine goes to 81 m, for 3,100 tons. But it still gets stuck: the Cartagena dock (where the submarines are built), was designed to accommodate vessels… up to 78 m. It will therefore be necessary, among other things, to lengthen the port, for 16 million euros.
The bill flies away
The irony of the story does not end there: the modifications could not be applied to the first of the four models. The S-81 (Isaac Peral) was already too advanced in its construction, it will only be modified once delivered. The AIP propulsion system, which allows the submarine to stay underwater for two weeks, may not be able to propel a ship that is 50% heavier, and will not be delivered until 2026 anyway, on the third model.
Between design changes and delays, the total cost of the four submarines is expected to be 4 billion euros. That is double the initial price, and double the price of its competitors on the international market (such as the German Type 214). Initially, delivery of the first model was scheduled for 2014… Navantia is now hoping for staggered delivery between 2022 and 2027.
On Spanish radio, Defense Minister Margarita Robles admitted that there had been “deficiencies on the project” S-80./deepl
Certainly.
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