President Sánchez and the ministers of Labour and Finance cut the steel for the Navy's F-110 frigates

The president of the PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition government, Pedro Sánchez, has sponsored and activated the start of the construction process of the Spanish Navy's new F-110 series of frigates, whose contract with the public shipyard Navantia dates back to April 2019.

On 6 April, 24 hours before flying to Rabat to meet with the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, the head of the Executive travelled to the Navantia shipyard in Ferrol. There, together with the 2nd Vice-President and Minister of Employment, Yolanda Díaz, and the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, he pressed the button that started the plasma cutting mechanism of the first steel plate of what will be the keel of the F-111, the frigate that inaugurates the so-called Ramón de Bonifaz class. 

The ceremony had four notable absentees. The Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, the Secretary of State for Defence, Esperanza Casteleiro, the Chief of the Naval General Staff (AJEMA), Admiral Antonio Martorell, and the Director General of Armaments and Material, Admiral Aniceto Rosique, under whose direction the programme office that leads and supervises the construction of the F-110 is located.

The Minister of Defence and the head of armaments and materiel policy were at the Zaragoza air base on the same day and time as the Ferrol event, "to thank its personnel, the 31st Wing and the Air Deployment Support Squadron (EADA) for all the effort they are carrying out in the operation to transfer material to Ukraine", according to a press release from the Defence Ministry.

The Navy, the recipient of ships that will form part of the backbone of the Fleet, was not represented at the ceremony either by the AJEMA or by the Head of Logistics Support (AJAL), Admiral Santiago Ramón González Gómez, but by the head of the Ferrol Arsenal, Vice Admiral Ignacio Frutos. 

With an investment of 4,317 million euros until 2031, the five F-110 frigates are designed to be ocean escort vessels specialised in anti-submarine warfare, with multi-mission capability and optimised to operate in high-intensity scenarios close to the coasts. With a displacement of around 6,100 tons and a length of 145 metres, they will complement the five F-100 frigates of the Álvaro de Bazán class - of similar tonnage and length - which are also ocean escorts, but with an extensive anti-aircraft protection component.

The requirements defined by the Navy for its new generation of surface warships cover a wide range of general missions. In particular, deterrence, presence in crisis scenarios, defence of national maritime interests and response to new asymmetric and diffuse threats. In short, it has opted for a balanced frigate, full of advanced technology, with a broad spectrum of intervention and capable of fulfilling all the typologies of naval warfare.  

To carry out the aforementioned missions, each F-110 has a high degree of automation, a crew of 150, a set of permanent core capabilities and others of a modular and temporary nature. A multi-purpose hangar at the stern can accommodate a navalised Airbus NH-90 helicopter and a variety of equipment. For example, unmanned vehicles, logistical means to provide emergency assistance to civilian authorities and NGOs, or small boats for special operations platoon operations.

Navy officials familiar with the programme emphasise that the F-110s represent "a great qualitative leap", the main technological keys to which are threefold. Firstly, the advanced version of the SCOMBA combat system, which fuses its armament and sensors with the latest versions of the powerful AEGIS combat system.  

Secondly, the integrated mast. Located in the superstructure, its function is to optimise the operational use of the electromagnetic spectrum, minimise interference between equipment and reduce the ship's radar signature. It includes electronic warfare equipment developed by Indra, the latest generation flat antennas, the S- and X-band radars, the electro-optical system for automatic detection and tracking of traces by their infrared signature (IRST), the identification friend-of-foe (IFF) equipment and a large part of the communications equipment. 

Thirdly, the so-called digital twin, a virtual replica of each of the frigates. This initiative, part of Navantia's Transformation 4.0 Plan, will facilitate the remote maintenance, updating and repair of the equipment and systems on board thanks to artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, augmented reality, process modelling and simulation, Blockchain, Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT), all enveloped by a sphere of cybersecurity. 

In terms of armament, the air defence component is resolved with the double umbrella provided by the Raytheon SM-2 and RIM-162 ESSM block II long and intermediate range anti-aircraft missiles, respectively, and the latest generation S-band active electronically scanning radar (AESA). For anti-submarine combat, it has Mk46 and Mk-54 torpedoes and for combat against surface ships and land targets, it has RGM-84 Harpoon block II missiles.

Its main conventional armament is a 127-millimetre bow gun. For asymmetric warfare, it has five Escribano E&M Sentinel remote-controlled turrets, one with a 30mm gun and four with 12.7 heavy machine guns integrated with the Oteos electro-optical system. Their silent propulsion plant of two electric motors and a gas turbine give the frigates a top speed of more than 26 knots. 

The five F-110s will replace six F-80s of the Santa María class, 4,000-tonne, 138-metre-long ships that entered service between December 1986 and December 1994, which means that the first of them is now 36 years old and in the final stages of its service life.

The Navy has named its new frigates after important Spanish sailors. The first unit of the series, the F-111, will be christened Ramón de Bonifaz and is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in February 2027. The F-112 will be called Roger de Lauria (2028); the F-113 will be named Menéndez de Avilés (2029); the F-114 will be dedicated to Luis de Córdova (2030). And the F-115 will honour Antonio Barceló (2031), an 18th century Mallorcan sailor whose bravery in various acts of war against the enemy led him to become a lieutenant general in the Royal Navy.