The S-81 “Isaac Peral”, first submarine of the S-80 series built by Navantia for the Spanish Navy has successfully passed the safety milestone of the start-up of its diesel engines, which is part of the process of its port trials. The start-up was successfully carried out on November 12, at the Cartagena shipyard’s Armament Dock. On the same day, the start-up of the diesel engines of the S-71 “Galerna”, which is undergoing port trials as part of the work to extend its life cycle, was also successfully completed.
The S-80 programme follows a regulated Systems Engineering process, whereby it is necessary to pass a series of technical reviews or quality gates in which it must be demonstrated that the submarine is ready to move on to the next phase. Diesel engine start-up is the fourth safety milestone, after power-up, battery shipment to the vessel and launch.
The S-80 class submarines have diesel engines with diesel alternator rectifiers (DARs) that allow their batteries to be charged or that can directly supply power to the main electric motor. The diesels are manufactured by the Navantia Cartagena engine factory, under MTU licence.
