Six years after being commissioned Portugal received Monday the first German made submarine, which came just two months after the last 40-year-old submarine the country had put out of service.

The new submarine arrived amidst a controversy in Portugal. The order is for two submarines that will cost 1 billion euros (about 1.3 billion U.S. dollars), around 0.6 percent of the country's GDP. For the left opposition parties, that is the kind of expenditure the country can't afford during the current crisis.

Meanwhile, Man Ferrostal, the German company that built the submarine, assumed the obligation of investing 120 million euros in the Portuguese economy. But up to now no more than 32 million euros were officially invested, and there is a corruption investigation on the overestimation of that amount.

The Portugese government says the new vessels are essential so the country can fulfill its obligation to the NATO tasks. (1 U.S. dollar = 0.7649 euros)