Navantia Starts Diesel Engines of Spanish Navy's Upcoming S-81 Submarine

Navantia Shipyard started the diesel engine of S-81 Isaac Peral submarine being built for the Spanish Navy.

Isaac Peral is the first S-80 submarine. It successfully passed the safety milestone of starting its diesel engines, which is part of its port testing process, Navantia said in a statement.

The engine was started on November 12 at the Armament Wharf of the Cartagena shipyard. That same day, the company started the diesel engines of the S-71 Galerna, which is in port tests as part of the work to extend its life cycle.

The S-80 program follows a regulated Systems Engineering process, by means of which it is necessary to pass a series of technical reviews or quality doors in which it must be demonstrated that the submarine is ripe to move on to the next phase. Diesel engine start-up is the fourth safety milestone, after power-up, the shipment of batteries to the ship and launching.

The S-80 class submarines have diesel engines with diesel alternator rectifiers (DAR) that allow the charging of their batteries or that can directly supply power to the main electric motor. The diesels are manufactured by the Navantia Cartagena Motors factory, under an MTU license.

In the coming months, the S-81 will undergo the first battery charges with the DAR and the test on moorings, the first moment in which the operation of the submarine's propulsive line is verified in a real way, prior to the start of the sea ​​trials.