Navantia has signed a contract to repair and modernize two Mandume-class patrol vessels for the Angolan Navy at its San Fernando shipyard in Cádiz, Spain.
The agreement covers Golfinho and Atlântico, both built in the early 1990s by Empresa Nacional Bazán, the Spanish state-owned shipbuilder that later became Navantia.
Angola’s state defense procurement company, Simportex, signed the contract on behalf of the Angolan Ministry of Defence.
The package also includes training for Angolan naval officers in Spain and two years of support for the vessels.
Navantia will transfer maintenance knowledge to the navy so that upkeep can be carried out in the African nation.
Navantia’s Projects
The Angola contract follows work on potential overseas shipbuilding partnerships and Spain’s submarine fleet.
Earlier this month, Navantia signed agreements with Croatia’s AITAC and Iskra Shipyard to explore cooperation on the Croatian Navy’s planned purchase of two multirole corvettes.
The partnerships cover possible local construction, engineering, vessel integration, and maintenance. AITAC would contribute digital design and logistics expertise, while Iskra would support assembly and testing.
In September, the company completed tests of the air-independent propulsion system fitted inside a separate hull section of Spain’s third S-80 submarine, Cosme García (S-83).
Conducted at Navantia’s Cartagena shipyard in southeastern Spain, the trials showed that the system could generate electricity to recharge the submarine’s batteries while submerged.
Further acceptance testing is planned after launch.
The S-83 is intended to be the first submarine in the class delivered with the system installed.
Earlier this year, another submarine system, Narciso Monturiol (S-82), completed its first static dive near Cartagena.
The test assessed hull behavior, ballast tank flooding, and stability before submerged navigation trials.