S-80 plus for Project-75I
Recently, speaking to The NewIndianExpress, the Spanish Ambassador to India said, "India is considering buying submarines and several countries including Spain are taking part in the tender. Spain considers that Navantia’s (a Spanish company) offer is very competitive in terms of quality, cost, transfer of technology and indigenisation. Navantia would be in charge of providing to the Indian Navy with state-of-the-art conventional Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) submarines – if the Indian government consider’s the offer".
In today's video we will explore the S-80 plus capabilities and try to find out can it fit into the Project-75I requirement.
About S-80 plus
The S-80 Plus class is the latest class of submarine being built by Spanish Ship building company Navantia. The submarine was designed in late-1990s and was redesigned in mid-2010. Spain has planned to construct 4 submarines of this class and the lead vessel of this class S-81 has already completed its first and initial sea trial in May 2022. It is expected to enter service by 2023. The remaining submarines of this class i.e. S-82, S-83 & S-84 will complete its construction by 2027.
It is a highly automated submarine with state-of-the-art platform control system developed by Navantia Systems which allows it to be operated by a reduced crew of 32 sailors and 8 seats for boarding additional personnel, capable of reaching a diving speed greater than 19 knots, and a maximum depth of immersion greater than 300 m. It is approximately 80 m long, 7 m in diameter and has a submerged displacement of about 3,000 tons. The characteristics of this class of ships place them at a level close to those of nuclear propulsion.
Operational AIP-Technology?
One of the major requirements of Project-75(I) where Indian Navy is not ready to compromise is the proven AIP system.
The S-80 plus is powered by three 1,200kW bio-ethanol engines, a 3,500kW main electric engine, and a 300kW AIP system.
Its AIP is a third-generation anaerobic AIP propulsion called BEST (Bio-Ethanol Stealth Technology), which consists of a bioethanol reformer to produce hydrogen, which in turn reacts with oxygen in a fuel cell, generating electricity. This system allows to extend autonomy of submarine in immersion up to three weeks at a submerged speed of 4knots, which substantially reduces its level of detectability.
The AIP system developed for the submarine has completed its final tests only in February 2020. Therefore, the first two submarines of this class i.e. S-81 & S-82 will be fitted with AIP system and will be retrofitted during their 1st major overhaul. So, technically S-80 plus submarine is yet not having an operational AIP system.
Combat Management System
Conclusion: S-80 plus not different from Kalvari class submarine
Both the boasts are fitted with six 533mm torpedo tube which can fire heavy weight torpedoes or anti-ship missiles or cruise missiles. Both the boats offer endurance of close to 50days. The Kalvari class submarine has a range of 12,000km at a speed of 8 knots when surfaced and 1020km at 4knots when submerged. S-80 plus has endurance of 8,000km. However, when we compare their size, S-80 plus, its much bigger submarine than Kalvari class with displacement close to 3,200t when surfaced, while Kalvari class submarine has displacement of 1,615 tonnes. Having lesser displacement and smaller size, the Kalvari class submarines have smaller footprint. Further Kalvari class needs less powerful propulsion system which contributes for the acoustic sound which attracts torpedoes. Therefore, Kalvari seems to be much stealthy than S-80 plus. Both the submarines are not having operational fuel cell-based AIP system and will get it only after their 1st major overhaul. 1st boat under Kalvari class submarine is set to be retrofitted with DRDO’s fuel cell based AIP in 2025. Therefore, in my opinion, the Kalvari class submarine is still a proven a better choice for Indian Navy rather than S-80 plus.
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