Spanish Navy Ork

The Spanish state shipyard group Navantia, one of the key players in the Orka program, presents advanced S-80 submarine technologies and their potential impact on the strategic edge of the Polish Navy, during the Industrial Day devoted to cooperation and new capabilities in the field of defence at sea.

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Navantii Industry Day: commitment to Orka submarine program

On 9 May, using the guest thresholds of the Naval Academy in Gdynia, the Spanish shipbuilding group Navantia organized Industry Day. As part of this conference, a "round table" was held, attended by representatives of the same company, as well as the co-operating companies Babcock International and Lockheed Martin.

These companies participate in the production of S-80 submarines for Armada Española. The aim of this event was to launch a series of meetings between Navantia and its co-operators with Polish companies, which will be incorporated into the potential chain of suppliers in Orka's programme, if the Spanish company's offer gained approval from the Ministry of Defence.

It is worth noting that both foreign companies, i.e. British Babcock and American Lockheed Maritin, are well known on the Polish market because they participate in industrial programmes for Polish Armed Forces. In the case of Babcock International, this is the most important ship program, namely the production of a multi-purpose frigate MEASURANT for the Polish Navy, while in the case of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, it is a number of activities related, inter alia, to the activity of plants in Mielec producing multi-purpose S-70i Black Hawk helicopters and the implementation of the Vistula programme, concerning the acquisition of anti-aircraft and anti-missile mid-range missile kits (Patriot/IBCS).

Both companies, with already developed technical and logistics facilities in Poland, will be key partners in providing support for the construction of S-80 submarines. Their presence and existing production and service activities will enable effective adaptation of these units to the requirements of the Polish Navy.

Industrial Day attracted interest among Polish entrepreneurs. It is important that the contribution of the indigenous industry to Orka submarine program it was as big as possible because in the future this will translate into efficiency and facilitate the maintenance of submarines in operation.

Modern submarines, such as those offered by Navantia, are an excellent example of multi-tasking marine platforms that have departed from the traditional picture of "submarine torpedo launchers". Today, they are versatile units, designed to carry out a number of missions important both during peace and during international tensions and the full-scale war. Most importantly, these tasks are carried out secretly, because finding them in a tone, especially on such a hydrologically complex watering, such as the Baltic, remains a very difficult thing. This means that even one submarine can change the system of forces in the area, forcing the opponent to engage significant forces and resources to seek it out.

Spanish Navy Ork / Shipyard Portal — **Fig. Navantia**

Submarine ships may: combat the submarines and shipping of the opponent using torpedoes and guided missile; destroy land targets in the coast with anti-ship missiles with the option of attacking objects of known position and targets inland by long-range maneuvering missiles; collect intelligence data for the entire armed forces (visual, hydroacoustic, radio, radio, thermal) to acquire information on critical infrastructure at sea bottom; transport and deploy special forces operators, assisting them in diversional activities; report minesteads; interact with submarines – remotely controlled and autonomous vehicles, with different uses, which further expands the spectrum of operational capabilities of these units. Some of these tasks cannot be performed by individuals of other classes at all, and certainly secretly.

It is not surprising, then, that many countries around the world buy submarines to replace their previous generations, as well as build submarines from scratch. Polish too Ministry of Defence sees the need to recreate these abilities in the Polish Navy, as indicated by the CPR Orka submarine program. It has sparked considerable interest in the top submarine manufacturers.

Comprehensive platform S-80

The latest submarine in Western Europe, which raised the flag in November 2023, is S-81 Isaac Peral. A new S-80 type unit, built by Navantia Shipbuilding Group for the Spanish Navy. This ship opens a series of four units ordered by the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Spain. Launching the unit took place on May 7, 2021 at the Navantii shipyard in Cartagena, after which the final equipment and preparation for plant trials (HAT) began. The naval and reception tests were then carried out, which were successful, making the ship in the hands of Spanish sailors since November 2023.

Currently, two ships are installed in the Carthagen shipyard, the future S-82 Narciso Monturiol and the S-83 Cosme García. The first will be identical to Isaac Peral. S-83, as the first in the series, will receive the BEST AIP system (about it further), and its installation is scheduled for the summer of this year. According to the schedule, the S-82 pressure hull will be completely closed in the first half of this year, before the test phase begins. When the S-82 is turned outside to launch a floating dock, its place will be taken by the blocks, the last in the series, S-84 Mateo García de los Reyes. According to current graphics, the entire program for Armada Española is to be finalized by 2028.

S-80 is an oceanic, conventional long-range submarine. The total length is 80.81 m and the buoyancy is 2965 tonnes. The propulsion system consists of the main electric motor of the MPE propelling the screw, three exhaust-electric generators and lead-acid batteries. The unit has a high degree of automation, making the crew 32 people (on ships of the previous generation S-70 over 60).

S-80 ships will be able to boast a long time of immersion without the need for frequent battery charging and snoring. This will be possible thanks to the aforementioned BEST (Bio-Ethanol Stealth Technology), the AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) system of the third generation. Its feature is the ability to produce hydrogen, necessary for the operation of fuel cells, directly on the ship, without having to store it, as happens in competitive solutions. Hydrogen is produced by reforming bioethanol.

The Spanish chose this alcohol because of its global, organic, high safety and low price availability. The AIP BEST will increase the submarine's autonomy without operating depth limitations, without operating limitations, regardless of the geographical zone (from tropical to subarctic environments) and the minimum contribution to the submarine signature (split overboard air microbubbles are mixed with water and do not increase the acoustic signature).

The BEST system successfully passed the company's collection test in 2023. So the proven solution is already available and ready for installation. The first ship fully equipped with AIP will be S-83, followed by S-84. The first two ships immediately received liquid oxygen tanks, and the remaining AIP BEST components will be found in the course of planned repairs.

In the development of the S-80, Navantia collaborated with the leading global companies, suppliers of individual components and systems, being the work coordinator and main contractor of the Madrid Ministry of Defence. An example of such cooperation is the sonar system that uses components provided by Lockheed Martin (hull antenna) and the Spanish company SAES (ownership of Navantii and Thales), which developed the sonar towed Solarsub DTAS.

The ship is equipped with an ICSC (Integrated Combat Core System, the core of the Integrated Combat System). The ICSC enables the acquisition, evaluation and presentation of all information necessary for offensive and defensive or intelligence activities, and the control of weapons and disruptors, as well as devices for their launch.

The S-80 is heavily and versatilely armed. The weapon is fired from six active torpedo launchers (TLT, Torpedo Launch Tubes) by the company Babcock International. In an arsenal of 18 pieces, there are heavy torpedoes with electric drive, sub-harpoon antiship missiles and bottom mines. In addition, the ship can be integrated with maneuvering missiles (Navantia is waiting for the Spanish Government to decide on the acquisition of Tomahawk missiles; when that happens, the S-80 belonging to Armada Española will become their carriers).

In addition, Navantia and Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace collaborate to integrate NSM-SL missiles (Naval Strike Missile-Subamrine Launched). It is a variety of anti-ship missiles also known in Poland with the option of attacking NSM land targets, which are in the armament of the Marine Rocket Unit. The WHDS (Weapons Handling & Discharge System) system is used to operate and fire weapons, also provided by Babcock. It allows the use of different types of ammunition manufactured by leading manufacturers.

Industrial cooperation

Since entering S-81, Isaac Peral, Navantia is seen as an experienced company with the ability to design and manufacture modern submarines equipped with an AIP system. However, it is equally important to be able to train crews, communicate knowledge of the maintenance of ships in operation and repair.

Read about Lockheed Martin and Navantii who renew the cooperation agreement

Navantia has great experience in conducting trainings under previous programs for the Spanish Navy and foreign fleets on various types of submarines and submarines. The S-80 offer includes a training programme aimed at providing staff with the required capabilities, in the safest and most efficient way to enable them to operate and maintain systems and equipment of the submarine. Navantii's offer includes a tactical simulator (SIMTAC) and platform simulator (SIMPLA). Both provide realistic crew training in normal and emergency procedures while reducing costs and risks. An additional asset is the support of the Spanish Navy, which is a S-80 submarine user.

Navantia He also has a lot of experience in technology transfer programmes (ToT, Transfer of Technology), acquired as part of the implementation of foreign contracts. Most of them contained a significant part of technology and knowledge transfer. The ToT model offered by Navantia is flexible so that it can be adapted to the needs of the fleet. The company also cooperated with the Polish industry. These are long-term actions aimed at defining and building an effective supply chain, leading to increased local contribution to the programme and ensuring the development of Polish industry and successful transfer of technology and knowledge.

Written by: Tomasz Grotnik