Babcock International, the Aerospace, Defence and Security Company, has supported the delivery of a significant milestone for the Armada Española (Spanish Navy), with its customer Navantia unveiling the first in class S-80 submarine in Cartagena Spain.
The S-80 programme is the first modern submarine of Spanish design and will deliver a state of the art underwater capability to the Armada Española.
Babcock plays an integral role on the platform, bringing to bear our extensive experience and world leading proprietary technology to deliver the Weapon Handling and Discharge Equipment (WHDE) and Acoustic Countermeasures Launchers (ACM) for the four-boat class.
Throughout the design and build stages, Babcock developed a bespoke Spanish supply chain to manufacture a significant amount of equipment for the S-80.
Babcock has also been selected by Naval Group to supply the Weapon Discharge System (WDS) for the Attack Class submarine in Australia.
Similar to the approach on the S-80 submarine, Babcock is also establishing significant sovereign capabilities and supply chains in Australia to support the local manufacture of the Attack Class submarine WDS.
Babcock Australasia’s Managing Director – Defence, Andy Davis, said developing sovereign industry capability is fundamental to the future resilience of the local supply chain and is core to our company’s strategy in Australasia.
“By focusing on building strength and depth within the Australian supply chain, as well as the transfer of skills and IP to Australia, we are establishing a sovereign defence capability in design, manufacturing and sustainment to support the Attack Class submarines for the decades ahead,” Mr Davis said.
“Babcock’s achievement with the Spanish Navy is a testament to our expertise in Weapons Handling and Launch systems and underlines our global naval design, build, commissioning and support capability for submarines.”
Babcock looks forward to continuing the build and commissioning work on the next three Spanish boats, as well as the Attack Class submarine program in Australia.