The related programme foresees the construction of five frigates and is valued at €4.3 million

Navantia started the construction process of the second frigate of the F-110 class for the Spanish Navy, thus confirming the speeding up of the related programme valued at €4.3 million, the company has said on 19 December.

The cut of the first steel of the second frigate F-112 occurred last Saturday, 16 December, at Navantia’s shipyard in Ferrol (A Coruña, Spain).

The programme, whose execution order was signed in 2019, foresees the construction of five frigates. According to the company, the beginning of production of the F-112 is four months ahead of schedule, thanks to the high degree of maturity of the design and the progress of engineering work.

The first frigate of the series, the F-111, under construction since 2022, has also been sped up with 24 out of the 33 blocks (compared to the 18 planned in the schedule) currently in various stages of construction and assembly. Out of these, five blocks are already on the slipway. Moreover, 98% of the programme’s equipment has already been acquired, with materials reaching 95% for the F-111 and 70% for the F-112.

The Spanish Navy’s F-110 frigates are multi-purpose escort vessels with anti-aircraft, anti-surface and anti-submarine capabilities that will enable them to perform their force protection and naval projection functions. These ships, intended to operate in combination with other units, make them versatile platforms that can perform maritime security-related functions.

The design of this new frigate includes advanced technological features, such as an integrated mast with different sensor and antenna solutions, a multi-mission space that expands the ship’s capabilities in all defence segments and a new hybrid propulsion plant, more efficient and silent, giving the ship great versatility. The frigates will be equipped with the Spanish combat system, SCOMBA, developed by Navantia Systems.

The F-110 programme is the primary driver of Navantia’s Digital Transformation Plan in Ferrol, which will involve the implementation of a new digital ecosystem to renew the production centres. In Ferrol, the Plan will be implemented through the construction of a new digital block factory with an investment of €110 million. The factory will become a fully digitalised, automated and robotised plant, including advanced technology machinery and hybrid laser technology, to performance and minimising distortions. The F-110 programme also has an essential impact on the supply chain, with more than 500 Spanish companies participating in the programme and a significant generation of employment of up to 9,000 people.

The F-110 frigate will be a smart ship, the first Spanish naval programme designed to have a Digital Twin: a virtual replica that constantly receives information from the vessel, permanently supplied with data by a network of sensors distributed throughout the ship, constituting a cyber-physical system using technologies such as Cloud Computing, Machine Learning and the Internet of Things (IoT). This will support its maintenance and operation even thousands of miles away through the Digital Twin deployed ashore.

The Digital Twin is complemented by an Integrated Services System (ISS), which will provide the ship with integrated sensors in its light points, substantially reducing its wiring. The F-110 will also have 3D printers on board to manufacture spare parts.

These will be the first ships in the fleet to have an integrated cybersecurity system to protect the vessels against increasing cyber threats. This will enable the vessel to have a reduced crew complement for operation, resulting in improved habitability.