Spain Defence And Security Report Q2 2010

Reduced military spending is expected to continue in Spain throughout 2010 and maybe beyond. At EUR11.9bn for 2010, which constitutes a EUR1.3bn fall compared with 2009, the government's defence budget is about the same proportion of total government spending, at 2.61%, and about the same proportion of GDP, at 0.8%. In terms of defence capability, Spain, as with other EU countries, faces a drop in capability in conducting vital out-of-area operations if defence spending falls again. In 2009, there was a slight increase in numbers across all forces following a series of recruitment drives.

However, in December 2009, Spain announced its intention to send 500 more troops to Afghanistan serving under NATO's ISAF. Some 220 soldiers returned to Spain in November, leaving 1,000 deployed soldiers in Afghanistan. In January, the government announced the setting up of a Counter-IED Centre of Excellence and will prioritise the integration within the EU of maritime surveillance to counter terrorism during its tenure of the EU presidency from January 2010.

Regarding the internal security situation, Basque separatist group, ETA - while still nominally active - poses a sporadic rather than constant threat and has been trying to recruit young untrained militants following arrests of several leaders in October. In December, the Spanish interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba warned that Madrid's EU presidency period could provide ETA with an opportunity to launch a spectacular' or kidnapping to reassert its aims and prove it is still capable of inflicting attacks. Meanwhile, EADS Defence & Security (DS) in Spain signed a EUR9mn contract in January 2010 to supply the Spanish Navy with fixed-wing maintenance for several military aircraft over a four-year period. The work includes engineering, logistical and technical support for the AV8B Harrier II, AV8B Harrier II Plus and CESSNA aircraft. EADS expects Spain, along with France and Germany, to state their commitment to the development of Talarion, a wholly EU-made, advanced UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). Other collaborations continue, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and the NATO RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), an advanced version of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow. Shipbuilder Navantia is continuing production of the S-80 diesel-electric attack submarine and has produced an advanced design for the CIM-2000 Scorpene class diesel-electric attack submarine, in collaboration with DCNS of France.

Weapons Launch System for Spanish S-80 Submarines Achieves Milestone

Babcock International has completed delivery, on-schedule, of all six of the internal slide valve lengths for the Weapon Handling and Launch System (WHLS) for the first of the new Spanish S-80 submarines. These items (part of a new design for the S-80) are the first major elements of system hardware to be delivered, marking an important milestone in the project.

Babcock was contracted in 2006 to design and supply the WHLS (including four sets of weapon handling and discharge equipment, and a set of weapon embarkation equipment) for the four planned S-80 air-independent propulsion/diesel electric hybrid submarines, being built for the Spanish Navy (Armada Española) by Navantia. Babcock is undertaking the design, development, manufacture and supply of the WHLS, including mechanical, electrical, electronic, hydraulic, pneumatic and software systems, as well as defining the interfaces with the submarine structure, combat system and weapons.

The 2,400 tonne S-80 submarine, with a Lockheed Martin / Navantia Systems combat system core, will carry various weapon types including torpedoes, missiles and mines. These will be handled and launched by the WHLS, which features six torpedo tubes providing positive air discharge of multiple weapons using rotary air-turbine pumps. Key features of the WHLS equipment being supplied by Babcock include a modular system and semi-automated weapon handling and stowage system.

Spain's S-80 Submarines Sonar Array System Completes In-Water Testing

Lockheed Martin Sonar Array System for Spain's S-80 Diesel Electric Submarines Completes In-Water Testing

MANASSAS, VA, November 12th, 2009 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully completed in-water testing of a new cylindrical array sonar system for Spain's S-80 class diesel electric submarines at the U.S. Navy's Underwater Test Facility at Seneca Lake, N.Y.

The cylindrical array is the primary acoustic sensor for submerged operations. It consists of a special hydrophone configuration that is unique to every platform. Lockheed Martin designed and developed the S-80's new array under a 2005 contract from the Spanish government to provide the submarine's integrated combat system.

In addition to the cylindrical array sonar, the S-80's integrated combat system also will contain a flank array sonar and a passive ranging sonar, as well as mine and obstacle detection sonar. The flank and passive ranging sonars were successfully tested in June. The sonars are designed, manufactured and assembled by Lockheed Martin's Undersea Systems business in Manassas, Va. and Syracuse, N.Y.

The new S-80 integrated combat system leverages proven commercial technology used on the U.S. Navy's Virginia, Seawolf and Los Angeles class submarines, as well as Lockheed Martin's experience as the lead contractor for the U.S. Navy's Acoustic Rapid Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Insertion program since its inception in 1996. This experience with the Navy has influenced the company's work on exportable versions of sonar array systems specifically for non-nuclear submarines, including Lockheed Martin's forward and back-fit scalable International Diesel-Electric Submarine Integrated Combat System (SUBICS).

"These successful tests are important milestones towards satisfying key deliveries for the S-80 submarine program and also provide substantial risk mitigation prior to installation on the actual submarine," explained Al Simpson, program management director, International Submarines and Coastal Systems for Lockheed Martin. "The delivery of the entire open architecture, COTS-based, integrated combat system for S-80 will usher in a new and important capability for diesel-electric submarines."

COTS - Commercial Off-The-Shelf
SUBICS - Submarine Integrated Combat System
Original News

S-80 Submarine

(4 units have been ordered by the Spanish Navy and are actually under construction. Another 2 units are possible to be ordered as well).

Specifications

Kind of submarine: SSK
Displacement (Surface): 2.200 t
Displacement (Submerged): 2.426 t
Length: 71,05 m
Beam: 11,68 m
Draught: 6,02 m
Propulsion:

• 3 diesel engines
• 1 electric engine
• 1 AIP reactor

Speed (Surface): 12 knots
Speed (Submerged): 19 knots
Range:

• 50/60 days of navigation in surface
• 20/30 days of navigation submerged at 4 knots

Complement:

• 3 Officers
• 4 Subofficers
• 25 sailors
• 8 Special Forces soldiers

Armament:

• 6 x 533mm torpedo launchers
• DM2/A4 Torpedos
• Mk48 Torpedos
• Sub-Harpoon Block II missiles
• Tomahawk TacTom Cruise missiles (range about 1600 km)