Chapter 166 A Real Submarine
Xiao Peng looked at Fernandez and Patachi with an expression of disbelief: "You really sent the S-80 to sea?"
Patachi was silent for a while and then nodded.
Xiao Peng was speechless and could only give a thumbs up to the two of them to express his admiration!
There’s a reason why there aren’t many foreigners here! They really know how to have fun!
The S80 submarine is definitely a "weird" existence in the world's military history.
As the world's first "empire on which the sun never sets," Spain, surrounded by the sea on three sides, places great importance on maritime sovereignty. The Spanish navy is relatively strong in Europe! They also possess aircraft carriers and are capable of competing with Indonesia.
The Spanish Navy originally had four submarines, some of them French-made and commissioned over 40 years ago. Spain designated them the S70-class submarines. While the French submarines of the same type have all been decommissioned, Spain still maintains three submarines in service, with the exception of one that was deemed beyond repair and was subsequently decommissioned for parts.
The Spanish also knew that their submarines could not hold on any longer, so in 2003 they launched a project to build a "new generation of cutting-edge conventional submarines."
To this end, they even abandoned their old partner: the French DCNS Group.
The French DCNS Group is considered one of the world's top shipbuilding companies. Its products include the French "Charles de Gaulle" class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the Spanish S-70 submarine.
Spain's Navantia Shipbuilding Group and DCNS Group have always had a good cooperative relationship. They jointly developed the export-oriented submarine "Scorpene Class" specifically for export to the international market, which is very popular.
Perhaps it was the success of this cooperation that made Spain's Navantia Heavy Industries "arrogant". They abandoned the French DCNS Group and turned to cooperate with an American company to develop a new generation of submarines based on the "Scorpene-class" submarines, namely the S-80-class submarines.
The Spanish Royal Navy has high hopes for this submarine and directly ordered four to replace the original S70 submarines.
As a result, ten years later, when their first S80 was about to be completed, people were surprised to find one thing: this submarine could not surface after diving into the sea. It was a real "submarine"!
The reason for this situation is that the engineers made a miscalculation when designing the submarine, and the entire submarine was nearly 100 tons heavier than the original weight! This mistake will directly lead to the submarine being unable to surface after diving.
What to do in this situation? Only modification is possible!
Spain first paid the American company 14 million and asked them to evaluate the problem and come up with a solution. In the end, the company came up with a solution: to continue widening and lengthening the submarine so that the buoyancy could reach the weight required for floating.
This is not free, and the cost of each additional meter of length is about 7.5 million! The original design of the S80 was 71 meters long, but they made it into the 81-meter-long S-80PLUS.
Do you think that's the end of it? But here's the kicker: Spain's submarines are all docked at the Cartagena submarine base in the southeast of the country. But that base can only accommodate ships under 78 meters in length, so the 81-meter S-80PLUS can't fit in there at all!
In desperation, they had to expand the dock, which cost another 16 million.
At last count, one submarine cost them one billion euros! This money was used to purchase three of China's most advanced Yuan-class conventionally powered submarines. For Spain, this money was originally intended for four, but after the first one was modified, they ran out of money, so the order for the other three was naturally canceled.
But even so, they still have to see the submarine. If a billion euros is wasted, they should hear something about it, right?
So the submarine was rebuilt, the Cartagena dock was expanded, and the new submarine began sea trials. The result...
Sunk?
How dare you take such a dangerous submarine out for sea trials? And a submarine crew just perished like that? You have such a big heart! Your crew is so brave!
Xiao Peng asked, "Where did this submarine sink?"
Fernandez answered the question: "After departing from Cartagena, they had intended to circle the Balearic Islands and return. The last signal they received was midway between Ibiza and Mallorca. However, the last communication was normal. Therefore, it is more appropriate to say that the submarine is 'missing'."
After thinking for a moment, Fabian said, "Mr. Fernandez, we still don't dare to get involved in this matter. After all, this is a military submarine."
Patachi took out another document and placed it on the table. "We've already agreed to cooperate with the DGSE on this matter. Your Cousteau family's Cousteau Diving Association is one of the seven salvage companies we've found this time. This is the authorization document."
"What is DGSE?" Xiao Peng asked Fabian.
"The French Directorate-General for External Security," Fabian explained.
Pascal was a little excited after hearing this: "You said the Cousteau Diving Association is also looking for that ship?"
Patachi nodded: "Pascal, your father is also searching for this ship."
After hearing this, Pascal tilted his head and looked at Xiao Peng, his expression full of pleading.
Xiao Peng took Patachi's file, looked at it, and handed it to Fabian. "Okay, the information is all here, right? Let's go find this ship."
After hearing his words, Fernandez took out another document and said, "Then let's sign a cooperation contract. In addition...you need to sign this confidentiality agreement."
"Confidentiality agreement?" Xiao Peng coughed dryly and said, "Mr. Fernandez, with all due respect, if you're being frank, the way you're working is probably enough to make the whole world know you've lost the submarine. What's the point of signing or not signing this confidentiality agreement?"
After hearing Xiao Peng's words, both Patachi and Fernandez became embarrassed. As Xiao Peng said, this matter really couldn't be kept secret and it had already been leaked a long time ago.
Pan Peiyu spoke at this time: "It's just a formality. Patachi, if Xiao Zhen finds the ship, what you promised me..."
Patachi interrupted him and said, "I will definitely do it!"
After hearing this, Chen Zetao turned to Xiao Peng and said, "Xiao, help them. Don't worry about getting involved in something you shouldn't be involved in. To be precise, the DGSE people contacted Godin, who then contacted me, which led to you. This is also considered an official French matter. The most critical issue is that the submarine disappeared near Catalonia, which is why the Spanish side is getting anxious."
After hearing what Chen Zetao said, Xiao Peng suddenly understood. He took the information and looked at it, then thought for a moment. "Fabian, prepare the information in the fourth and sixth files in the second row of bookcase No. 7 in your database. They record the ocean currents from the Gulf of Valencia to the Gulf of León. Xiao Pa, you should also prepare yourself. This time, you will go out to sea with me, and we will find this submarine!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
