The planned modernisation programme is valued at €3.2 billion and is scheduled to last 120 months, counted from the day after the contract is formally signed. Its objective is to extend the service life of the frigates at least until 2045.
All work will be carried out at Navantia’s shipyard in Ría de Ferrol in the province of A Coruña, which forms part of the Spanish state-owned shipbuilding group. The F100 class was the first in Europe to be built around the American Aegis combat system with AS-3159 fixed-array antennas of the AN/SPY-1D system, marking a major milestone in the continent’s naval industrial development.
Measuring 146.7 by 18.6 by 4.75 metres, the ships have a full-load displacement of 6,391 tonnes. Their main armament consists of SM-2MR Block IIIA and RIM-162 ESSM missiles launched from six eight-cell Mk 41 modules, while Harpoon anti-ship missiles will be replaced by NSM missiles under the upgrade.
The project forms part of the wider PITSD defence industrial and technology modernisation programme, under which expected spending is set to reach €10.5 billion. It follows another initiative assigned to Navantia, after the Council of Ministers approved on 24 October the start of work on a new Colector de Inteligencia electronic intelligence ship to replace the Alerta (A 111) commissioned in 1992.
