Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate

The Álvaro de Bazán class, also known as the F100 class, is a class of Aegis combat system-equipped air defence frigates in service with the Spanish Navy. The vessels were built by Spanish shipbuilder Navantia in Ferrol, with the lead ship of the class named for Admiral Álvaro de Bazán.

Almirante Juan de Borbón
Class overview
Name: Álvaro de Bazán class
Builders: NAVANTIA-IZAR, Astillero Ferrol
Operators:  Spanish Navy
Preceded by: Santa María class
Succeeded by: F110 class
Subclasses: Hobart class
Cost:
  • F101-4: €453 million[1] per unit
  • F105: €834 million[1]
Planned: 6
Cancelled: 1
Active: 5
General characteristics [2]
Type: Guided missile frigate
Displacement:
  • 5,800 long tons (5,900 t) (standard load)
  • 6,391 long tons (6,494 t) (full load)
Length: 146.7 m (481 ft)
Beam: 18.6 m (61 ft)
Draft: 4.75 m (15.6 ft)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range: 4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement: 201
Sensors and
processing systems:
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
  • 4 × FMC SRBOC Mk36 flare launchers
  • SLQ-25A Enhanced Nixie torpedo countermeasures
  • Indra SLQ-380 EW suite
  • Indra Mk 9500 interceptor
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 1 × Sikorsky SH-60B LAMPS III Seahawk

The ships are fitted with American Aegis weapons system allowing them to track hundreds of airborne targets simultaneously as part of its air defence network. The Álvaro de Bazán-class multi-role frigates are one of the few non-US warships to carry the Aegis system and its associated SPY-1D radar. The American Arleigh Burke class, Japanese Kongo class, Korean Sejong the Great class, Australian Hobart class, and the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen class also use the Aegis system.

The Álvaro de Bazán-class frigates are the first modern vessels of the Spanish Navy to incorporate ballistic resistant steel in the hull, along with the power plants being mounted on anti-vibration mounts to reduce noise and make them less detectable by submarines. The original contract for four ships was worth €1.683 billion but they ended up costing €1.81 billion.[1] As of 2010 it was estimated that the final vessel, F-105 would cost €834m[1] (~US$1.1bn).

Ships in class
Méndez Núñez moored at South Quay in London in April 2015

Six ships were originally planned, including Roger de Lauria (F105) and Juan de Austria (F106). These were cancelled but a fifth ship was later added as the F105 Cristóbal Colón.

Pennant number Name Laid down Launched Commissioned Status
F101 Álvaro de Bazán October 2000 September 2002 Active
F102 Almirante Juan de Borbón October 2001 28 February 2002 3 December 2003 Active
F103 Blas de Lezo 16 May 2003 16 December 2004 Active
F104 Méndez Núñez 16 May 2003 12 November 2004 21 March 2006 Active
F105 Roger de Lauria renamed

Cristóbal Colón

 29 June 2007 4 November 2010 23 October 2012 Active
F106 Juan de Austria Cancelled

Export
Main article: Hobart-class destroyer

The class is the basis of the Australian Hobart-class destroyers, previously known as the Air Warfare Destroyer. The Australian government announced in June 2007 that, in partnership with Navantia, three F100 vessels will be built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) with the first due for delivery in 2014, however this was delayed until 2017 when lead ship HMAS Hobart was commissioned.

See also

References
  1. Ministerio de Defensa (September 2011). "Evaluación de los Programas Especiales de Armamento (PEAs)" (PDF) (in Spanish). Madrid: Grupo Atenea. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  2. "Alvaro de Bazan (F100) class Guided Missile Frigate". www.seaforces.org. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
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