Spain’s first two S-80 Plus class submarines put to sea collectively for the primary time this week, the Spanish Navy stated.
The Isaac Peral (S-81) and the Narciso Monturiol (S-82) characterize what the Navy described as one other step in Spain’s strategic autonomy and its submarine pressure’s deterrent functionality.
Isaac Peral, the lead boat of the category, was commissioned into the Spanish Navy in November 2023 after finishing its personal sea trials off Cartagena. Constructed by Spanish state shipbuilder Navantia, the submarine measures 80.8 meters (265 ft) in size with a hull diameter of seven.3 meters (24 ft) and a submerged displacement of about 3,000 tonnes.
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Narciso Monturiol, the second submarine within the class, started sea trials in June 2026 following its first static dive that July close to La Algameca Naval Base in Cartagena. That check evaluated the hull’s conduct and the flooding of its ballast tanks forward of submerged navigation trials. The submarine stays in its testing program and has not but been formally commissioned into the fleet.
Each submarines share the identical core specs and are named after Nineteenth-century Spanish inventors credited with early submarine design work. The S-80 Plus program is meant to interchange Spain’s ageing Galerna-class submarines, in service because the Nineteen Eighties, with a complete of 4 boats deliberate. The third submarine within the class, Cosme García, stays underneath building at Navantia’s Cartagena shipyard, the place the vessel’s diesel engines have been put in in July.
A defining characteristic of the S-80 Plus design is its BEST air-independent propulsion system, which makes use of gas cell know-how to generate electrical energy at depth with out surfacing, extending how lengthy the submarines can stay submerged. The lead boats are coming into service earlier than the AIP system is totally built-in, with the know-how anticipated to be added throughout future upgrades.
“The S80 programme is progressing in keeping with the agreed schedule, and the second submarine within the sequence will probably be delivered quickly,” Navantia Chairman Ricardo Domínguez stated in July, following the Narciso Monturiol’s first static dive. “Because of the shut collaboration between the Ministry of Defence, the Spanish Navy and Navantia, the S80 programme is already making a big contribution to the strategic autonomy of Spain’s submarine pressure and to the technological capabilities of our industrial ecosystem.”
The S-80 Plus program skilled years of delays after engineers recognized buoyancy and weight distribution points that required design modifications earlier than building may proceed on schedule. Navantia has stated this system helps greater than 6,000 jobs throughout Spain’s protection industrial base.
