Spain Just Spent $680 Million On Submarines That Can't Swim

[Initech]

The S-80, clearly computer-generated. Navartia

One of Spain’s largest defense splurges may also be one of its most embarrassing. After spending nearly one-third of a $3 billion budget to build four of the world’s most advanced submarines, the project’s engineers have run into a problem: the submarines are so heavy that they would sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Miscalculations by engineers at Navantia, the construction company contracted to built the S-80 submarine fleet, have produced submarines that are each as much as 100 tonnes (110 US tonnes) too heavy. The excess weight sounds paltry compared to the 2,000-plus tonnes (2,205 US tonnes) that each submarine weighs, but it’s more than enough to send the submarines straight to the ocean’s floor.

Given the mistake, Spain is going to have to choose between two costly fixes: slimming the submarines down, or elongating them to compensate for the extra fat. All signs point to the latter, which will be anything but a breeze—adding length will still require redesigning the entire vessel. And more money on top of the $680 million already spent.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/spain-just-spent-680-million-203200757.html

I was going to post this in Weird News but this is another example of a country that doesn't have its' priorities straight economically. There's always room for the war machine!

[clarice]

1. They should stick to making good San Gria .nt

[Bonhomme Richard]

2. But! But! Submarines are supposed to sink.

I also thought I read somewhere that they had screen hatches.

[RC]

14. Yep, they have screen doors on the hatches for when sailing in the tropics.

[TrogL]

3. Canada went cheap. We bought some junkers from the British, which immediately started to leak

[Schema Thing]

9. JB Weld should make them last till there is world peace

[msongs]

4. spain has no need for submarines. the MIC thieves strike again nt

[sfpcjock]

5. Yes, but they use GE patented submarine screen doors.

[Orrex]

13. That's not funny at all.

The screen doors are made by ALCOA.

[sfpcjock]

19. Haha

[sarisataka]

6. It is very easy to build a ship that sinks

coming back up is a bit more tricky

[Blue_Tires]

7. Meanwhile the USA is still trying to slog through the contractor shitpile that is the F-35

If only there was some way to get money back from contractors who do nothing but swindle...

[JackN415]

8. Can they roll down the windows to escape if it sinks?

[Initech]

12. Where's the screen door?

[Wounded Bear]

16. Yep.....

and they escape using their lead life preservers.

[JackN415]

21. And escape life for good

[byeya]

10. With 24% unemployment Spain needs to cut its military and withdraw from NATO.

[NV Whino]

11. Easy fix

Add wheels and drive them along the bottom. Of course surfacing anywhere other than a beach becomes problematic.

[hunter]

17. I was thinking legs.

Then you could use them as tanks too.

[NV Whino]

20. That works, too

Or maybe legs and wheels.

[lpbk2713]

15. El Sinko de Mayo

... times four.

[jmowreader]

18. Two questions

Question 1: The shipbuilder was under contract to produce four usable submarines. Isn't it their respon$ibility to fix this?

Question 1a: Who in their right mind builds four copies of an entirely new ship class at the same time? The US Navy builds one ship, puts her to sea and patrols for a little while before they lay down the second one, to make sure the ship works as advertised. If they would have done that in Spain, they'd be fixing one ship and redesigning the class before building the other three.

Question 1b: The formula for submarine weight is not complicated. You want the top 150 cm of the hull to be above the surface when the boat is in port. You calculate the volume of the part of the hull that's below the surface in liters, multiply by the mass of seawater, and you know how much the boat can weigh. The same formula applies to any vessel. Did the designers make it all the way through marine architecture school without learning this?

Question 2: Isn't Spain broke?

[Fumesucker]

22. Remember the Hubble mirror flaw?

A made-to-unprecedented-precision ultra-high-tech mirror had a gross optical defect lovingly configured on it.

Any amateur mirror maker could have caught the mistake with amateur techniques, if they were looking for it.

[jmowreader]

23. I remember

I also remember they made one. If these guys would have made one bad sub rather than four, it would have been easier to fix. Now they gotta cut all these boats into three pieces and weld plugs in.

I still want to know who pays for this.