Álvaro de Bazán class
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| Frigate Álvaro-de-Bazán- class (F100-class) |
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.jpg) The fourth unit of the class, Méndez Núñez (F104) |
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| history | ||
| Units: | Álvaro de Bazán (F101) Almirante Juan de Borbón (F102) Blas de Lezo (F103) Méndez Núñez (F104) Cristóbal Colón (F105) |
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| Builder: | Navantia in Ferrol | |
| Launch: | from October 2000 | |
| Commissioning: | from September 2002 | |
| Home port: | Ferrol | |
| Data | ||
| Displacement: | 5800 t (1–4), 6050 t (5) | |
length
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146.7 m 133.2 m |
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width
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18.6 m 17.5 m |
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| Draft: | 5.0 m | |
| Drive: |
2 × GE LM 2500 of 18 MW each 2 × Caterpillar 3600 of 4.5 MW (1–4) and 6 MW (5) each 1 × retractable bow thruster of 850 kW (only 5) |
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| Speed: | 29 knots | |
| Route: | > 4500 nm at 18 knots | |
crew
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202 250 |
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| Armament | ||
| Ship guns | 1 × BAE Systems Mark 45 Mod 2 5/54
2 x 20 mm automatic cannon (1-4), Mark 38 25 mm (5) |
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| Anti-ship missile | 2 × 4 AGM-84 Harpoon | |
| VLS Mk 41 | 48 cells for SM-2 , ESSM , Tomahawk | |
| CIWS | 1 × 20 mm Meroka 2B | |
| ECM | 4 × 6 Mk 36 SRBOC AN / SLQ-25 Nixie |
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| Torpedo tubes | 2 × Mk. 32 torpedo launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes | |
| Board helicopter | 1 × SH-60B LAMPS III | |
| Sensors | ||
| Multifunction radar | Lockheed Martin AN / SPY-1 D (1-4) and AN / SPY-1D (V) (5) | |
| Surface search radar | Indra ARIES NAV (1–4), ARIES DIANA + (5) | |
| Navigation radar | Indra ARIES CIT 25-DF | |
| sonar | Raytheon DE1160 | |
The Álvaro de Bazán class , also known as the F100 class , consists of five ships of the Spanish Navy classified as frigates . Four units were already put into service between 2002 and 2006. The fifth ship was ordered retrospectively (2005) and was launched at the end of 2010 about a year late. The commissioning took place at the end of 2012. The originally planned sixth unit was not implemented due to the economic crisis, the focus has now shifted to a future F110 Class as the successor to the F80 . The ships are designed as multi-purpose units, but the focus is on extensive air defense .
In order to fulfill this task, they were the first ships in Europe to be equipped with the Aegis combat system.
history
At the beginning of the 20th century, a class of Spanish gunboats had already borne the name Álvaro de Bazán .
At the beginning of the 1980s, Spain took part in the NATO Frigat Replacement for 90s project , or NFR-90 for short, which aimed to develop a uniform frigate design for all eight participating NATO countries. The project had to be discontinued in 1989 due to the great differences between the needs of the individual navies. The USA built the Arleigh Burke class on a national basis , while Great Britain, Italy and France decided on a new cooperation project, the Horizon Common New Generation Frigate (Horizon CNGF) . The remaining four countries, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada had feasibility studies carried out on a national basis. Finally, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands were able to agree on a basic design to be developed on a trilateral basis, which would be built and designed nationally. The project was named Trilateral Frigate Cooperation (TFC) . In Germany, the 124 class was built within the framework of this agreement , and the De-Zeven-Provinciën class in the Netherlands .
The order for the first batch of four units for the Spanish Navy was awarded to the Spanish state owned shipbuilding company Izar in Ferrol , Spain . When this got into financial difficulties in 2005, the armaments division was separated and continued as Navantia , which continues the work at the same location.
For the entire project of originally four ships, 280 billion pesetas were estimated, which corresponds to about 1.68 billion euros. The actual construction costs per ship were estimated at around 385 million euros.
All three ship classes built as part of the Trilateral Frigate Cooperation are officially classified as frigates. However, due to their size and armament, they could also be classified as destroyers.
A second construction lot of two more ships was planned with a delay. Construction of the fifth ship began in 2007, and full operational readiness is expected in 2014 at the earliest. The acquisition of a sixth ship was considered, but ultimately not implemented.
The ships belong to the 31st escort flotilla.
technology
Ship platform
The length of the frigates on the waterline is 133.2 m and 146.7 m over all. The width is 17.5 m on the waterline or 18.6 m above everything. The draft is 5 m and the water displacement is around 5800 t.
The crew consists of a minimum of 202 people, but normally there are 229 people on board. There is also the possibility of accommodating up to 250 people, for example a boarding team can be brought along.
Ship No. 5, the Cristóbal Colón (German: Christoph Columbus), was put into service six years after ship No. 4 and various details were changed. Improvements affect not only the hangar, the (dinghy) davits , the Seeversorgungsausrüstungen which Eloka- "suite" and the UHF - and X-band - satellite communications more areas which are listed separately below or right.
drive
During the development phase of the Álvaro de Bazán class, the advantages and disadvantages of twelve different drive models were weighed up. Ultimately, a decision was made in favor of a so-called CODAG drive concept (combined diesel and gas). Here are marine diesel engines and gas turbines used in combination. During the slow but efficient and persistent cruise , only the two diesel engines act on the two waves. However, if higher speeds are required, the two gas turbines can be switched on; the two diesel engines and the two gas turbines then act simultaneously on the two shafts, providing around five times the power. In order for four differently strong motors to act on only two shafts, highly complex gears are required, the weight and complexity of which are the main disadvantages of the CODAG drive.
In the case of the Álvaro de Bazán class, two Caterpillar Bravo V12 diesel engines with 4.5 MW each and two LM-2500 gas turbines from General Electric with 18 MW each were installed. These act on two shafts that each set a controllable pitch propeller in motion. This enables top speeds of 29 knots to be achieved. Cruises without activated gas turbines can be driven at up to 18 kn, which increases the range considerably to 4500 nautical miles. Ship No. 5 has more powerful V16 engines and an additional bow thruster.
Stealth technology
The Álvaro de Bazán class is built on the stealth principle . The ships are designed in such a way that they are extremely difficult to locate. As a central point, the so-called radar cross section (RCS) - the radar reflection - is reduced as much as possible. For this purpose, all outer walls must be inclined and specially coated. Rocket launchers, guns, dinghies, etc. must also be disguised accordingly. A second point is to reduce the heat radiation, since this can be located by IR sensors. The main problem here are the exhaust gases, which therefore have to be mixed with air in a complicated process and cooled before they are emitted. The advantage of these techniques is that the ships are heavier and can therefore only be located later by the enemy. However, complete invisibility is not possible. Stealth ships cannot be compared to stealth aircraft such as the Northrop B-2 . Ships are often on mission trips for months and are constantly exposed to aggressive seawater, which is why many of the special coatings used in military aircraft construction cannot be used on ships.
electronics
The central element of the electronics is the Aegis combat system of the US arms company Lockheed Martin . Aegis is an integrated command, fire control and reconnaissance system. As such, it takes on tasks such as locating, tracking and fire control of sea and air targets as well as displaying the situation and networking with other allied units. The main components of the system are the ship's operations center and the AN / SPY-1 D-3D multi-purpose radar (ship No. 5 AN / SPY-1D (V), which improves the radar system's capabilities in coastal waters in particular). With its four flat and immovable antennas, the AN / SPY-1 gives it a characteristic appearance. From a technical point of view, this is what is known as passive electronic beam swiveling . This eliminates the need for moving parts, which increases reliability. Another advantage is the significantly higher performance, especially when tracking a large number of targets (> 200) simultaneously, as well as the range, which is several 100 kilometers depending on the radar cross-section and other factors.
An AN / SPS-67 surface search radar from the US manufacturer Raytheon and a navigation radar from the Thales Group of the Scout type were also on board as supplementary radar systems , both of which have now been replaced by local devices from Indra. Communication equipment includes Link 11 and SatCom. To locate submarines to, is a Bugsonar type DE1160 , also from Raytheon, scaffolded. This is a low-frequency system that can work both actively and passively as required.
Armament
Guided missiles
The main armament is a vertical launching system (VLS) of the American type Mk 41 with 48 cells. This can fire the SM-2 , ESSM and BGM-109 Tomahawk . 24 SM-2 missiles take up most of the cells. This is primarily a missile for combating air targets over great distances, in a secondary role sea targets can also be combated. Only twelve cells are intended for ESSM, but so-called quad packs can be loaded from these missiles - this means that 48 ESSM can be carried in only twelve cells. Again, these are primarily missiles for combating air targets, but their range is much smaller. They are used primarily to combat anti-aircraft missiles approaching. The remaining twelve cells are intended for tomahawk cruise missiles (also known as cruise missiles). They have been specially developed for use against land targets and have a range of well over 1000 km. However, depending on the mission profile, the weapon mix in the VLS can be changed as required. According to Jane's fighting ships, the current funding is 12 × 4 ESSM and 36 SM-2, as Spain will not be purchasing a Tomahawk for the foreseeable future.
In addition, eight AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles are carried in two quad-launchers to combat sea targets . In addition, two pairs of Mk. 32 Mod. 9 torpedo tubes for twelve Mark 46 Mod. 5 submarine torpedoes are available for fighting submarines .
Guns
The main gun is located on the foredeck. For Alvaro de Bazán- class the decision that fell Mark-45 Mod 2 - naval gun from BAE Systems (formerly United Defense ). It is a 5 inch (127 mm) caliber gun with 54 caliber lengths . With this relatively large caliber, both sea, land and air targets can be fought effectively, with the range compared to sea and land targets is up to 24 km. However, it is not possible to use ammunition with extended range - for this the Mod 4 version of the Mark 45 gun, which has been enlarged to 62 caliber lengths for the same caliber, would have to be scaffolded, which has not yet been planned. A fire control system of the type DORNA from the Spanish manufacturer FABA is equipped for the Mark 45 gun, which consists of a K-band radar, IR and TV camera and a laser range finder.
A 20 mm Meroka-2B- CIWS is also installed as the final self-defense against approaching anti-ship missiles . The range of this system is about 2000 m.
As the attack on the USS Cole demonstrated, there is a significant threat from attacks by small, fast boats. To enable such ward, are on all vessels of Álvaro de Bazán class two 20-mm automatic cannon mounted a Spanish type.
Aircraft
The ships are able to use a US Sikorsky SH-60B LAMPS III Seahawk helicopter . There is also a 26.4 m long landing pad at the stern, followed by a hangar. The Seahawk can be used for submarine hunting, among other things. It can be equipped with sonar buoys, a magnetic anomaly detector and submarine hunting torpedoes. In order to take up less space on the ship, the stern and rotor can be folded.
Electronic countermeasures (ECM)
In addition to the active measures (ESSM, Meroka CIWS), two Mk 36 SRBOC launchers for radar and IR decoys are also equipped to ward off approaching missiles . In order to be able to fend off attacking torpedoes, there is a pulled torpedo decoy system of the type AN / SLQ-25 Nixie at the stern .
units
The ships are based at their "place of birth" Ferrol and form the 31st Escort Squadron ( 31ª Escuadrilla de Escoltas ). Four of them - including the unrealized sixth unit - are named after the successful Spanish admirals of modern times Álvaro de Bazán , Blas de Lezo , Méndez Núñez and Juan de Austria . In Juan de Borbon is a rightful heir to the throne of Spain in the 20th century, however, the result of the Franco dictatorship was never king and his claims in 1977 to his son Juan Carlos relinquished. Cristóbal Colón (Spanish for Christopher Columbus) was a Genoese seafarer in Spanish service who discovered America for the Spanish kingdoms .
| Identifier | Callsign | Surname | Keel laying | Launch | In service | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F101 | EBDA | Álvaro de Bazán | June 14, 1999 | October 31, 2000 | September 19, 2002 | active |
| F102 | EBDB | Almirante Juan de Borbon | February 28, 2002 | December 3, 2003 | active | |
| F103 | EBDC | Blas de Lezo | May 16, 2003 | December 16, 2004 | active | |
| F104 | EMCDDA | Méndez Núñez | May 16, 2003 | November 12, 2004 | March 21, 2006 | active |
| F105 | EBDE | Cristóbal Colón | June 29, 2007 | 5th November 2010 | October 23, 2012 | active |
| (F106) | (EBDF) | ( Juan de Austria ) | unrealized |
Derived export versions
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Norway : In 2000, the Norwegian Navy ordered five Fridtjof Nansen class frigates . This is a slimmed-down variant of the Álvaro de Bazán class. In particular, the extensive air defense systems, including the Aegis combat system, have been slimmed down, which is why the Fritjof-Nansen class is a bit smaller. The ships were delivered until 2011. The original idea to build part of the ships in Norway had to be abandoned due to cost overruns. -
Australia : In 2007, surprisingly, a design derived from the Álvaro de Bazán class for three air defense destroyers to be built for the Royal Australian Navy was able to prevail. The three Hobart- class ships were completely built in Australia with Spanish support and put into service from 2017.
Web links
- www.armada.mde.es (Spanish)
- www.hazegray.org (English)
- www.globalsecurity.org (English)
- www.naval-technology.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Defensa comunica a EE UU que no comprará misiles Tomahawk ( Spanish ) ELPAÍS.com. October 12, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2011.