Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1258433
F-110 Frigates The F-110 frigates acquisition program is the most important undertaking of the Spanish fleet at the moment. Armada Española current- ly operates 11 vessels, all built at the domestic shipyards. Five of them are the new F-100 Álva- ro de Bazán class (2002 – 2012) frigates. The remaining six vessels are the F-80 Santa Maria class (procured between 1986 and 1995). The F-80 vessels are a license-manufactured vari- ant of the US Oliver Hazard Perry-class frig- ates. Compared to their US-made prerequisites, the Spanish warships have been modified. They use the Spanish 25 mm Meroka CIWS, domesti- cally designed SIGINT/ELINT system, and new nav-radars. SQS-19 TACTAS towed sonar array has been removed, as it was considered to be obsolete. As the first F-80s are reaching the end of their life cycles, a proposal of acquiring another five frigates (alongside five new F-100) was being mentioned in the ALTAMAR already. However, it was not until 2009 when Spain began taking steps towards the introduction of the F-80 re- placements. Formal initiation of the work took place a year afterward, along with the definition of the requirements concerning the new ves- sels viewed as ASW-tasked units. Furthermore, the warships in question were to be capable of providing point air defense, acting against surface threats, supporting special operations, and carrying out policing or humanitarian ops. As the mission assigned to the new vessels was specified, the tempo of the conceptual work was accelerated as well. Throughout the project, numerous hull and powerplant configuration variants have been analyzed. As the primary mission assigned to the new vessels was placed in the domain of anti-sub- marine warfare, it was also assumed that the operational profile would require movement at low speeds, for the sake of diminishing the acoustic signature. For that reason, the idea of a vessel using loud thrusters and trimaran design have both been rejected. A decision was made, relatively quickly, to base the design of the new ship on the proven hull developed for the F-100 program. Actions were undertaken in parallel to the hull-shape/powerplant analysis, aimed at the development of sensors for the new combatants. Back in 2011, the Navantia/ Indra consortium was tasked with the develop- ment of a new integrated MASTIN integrated mast/upper deck structure. Four years later the businesses have secured the main contract concerning the integration effort on the mast structure, involving all of the required sensors. The contract also covered the SCOMBA ship's combat system, dedicated for the vessels in question. Decisions on the shape of the radar system of the vessels were the next step. It was decided that two complementary X-band and S-band radars shall be used. The former radar was to be developed by the Spanish manufac- turers, meanwhile, in the case of the S-band systems, two potential paths were being con- sidered. First one assumed that readymade systems would be procured abroad, the second path was seen in the domestic development of radar in collaboration with a foreign partner - Lockheed Martin seemed to be the best fit. Ul- timately, the latter path was selected. The ad- vantages here included the involvement of the domestic defense industry and the opportunity to acquire new expertise. The disadvantages, meanwhile, included the higher cost resulting www.fragoutmag.com