Ben Pawlowski
SPAIN’S economy has been dealt a blow after an offer from a Spanish manufacturer to secure a €45 billion contract to rebuild Canada’s submarine fleet was rejected.
The Canadian government, led by prime minister and former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, announced that it had selected Germany and South Korea for the next stage of the bidding process, with an offer from Navantia, a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company based in Madrid, snubbed.
The announcement coincided with a meeting between Carney and German chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin – and came despite the best efforts of finance minister Carlos Cuerpo, who lobbied former Canadian leader Justin Trudeau to accept the offer after flying to Canada last October.
According to experts, Navantia’s S-80 class submarines are not equipped with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system, a technology that allows conventional submarines to operate without the need to surface frequently to take in atmospheric oxygen.
That made Navantia’s offer less attractive to Canadian military figures in comparison with Germany’s Type 212CD submarines, which are equipped with an AIP system.
India also ruled out using Spanish submarines for the same reason, according to the Indian Express newspaper.
The S-80, weighing 2,400 tonnes, is equipped with sub-harpoon missiles, DM2A4 torpedoes and Tomahawk missiles, as well as sensors for shallow water operations, special missions, intelligence, surveillance and deterrence.
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