Álvaro de Bazán, lead ship of the class, in 2014. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Álvaro de Bazán class |
| Builders | NAVANTIA-IZAR, Astillero Ferrol |
| Operators | | |
| Preceded by | Baleares-class frigate |
| Succeeded by | F110-class frigate |
| Subclasses | Hobart-class destroyer |
| Cost | |
| Planned | 6 |
| Cancelled | 1 |
| Active | 5 |
| General characteristics[2] | |
| Type | Guided-missile frigate |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 146.7 m (481 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 18.6 m (61 ft 0 in) |
| Draft | 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| 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 & processing systems | |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 1 ×SH-60 Seahawk |
TheÁlvaro de Bazán class, also known as theF100 class, is a class ofAegis combat system-equipped air defencefrigates in service with theSpanish Navy. The vessels were built by Spanish shipbuilderNavantia inFerrol, with thelead ship of the class named for AdmiralÁlvaro de Bazán.
The ships are fitted with the United States Aegis weapons system allowing them to track hundreds of airborne targets simultaneously as part of its air defence network. TheÁlvaro de Bazán-class multi-role frigates are one of the few non-US warships to carry the Aegis system and its associatedSPY-1D radar. The AmericanArleigh Burke class, JapaneseKongo class, South KoreanSejong the Great class, AustralianHobart class, and the NorwegianFridtjof Nansen class also use the Aegis system.[citation needed]
When the F-100 was designed, the United States communicated that it was impossible to implement theAegis system in ships of less than 7,000 tonnes (15,000,000 lb), for this reason, after the construction and tests, the United States Navy congratulated and recognized the capacity of the Spanish ships, in addition to the fact that the radars are higher on theSpanish ships and therefore receive information earlier thanU.S. orJapanese ships.[citation needed]
TheÁlvaro 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[update] it was estimated that the final vessel, F-105 would cost €834m[1] (~US$1.1bn).[citation needed]


Six ships were originally planned, includingRoger de Lauria (F105) andJuan de Austria (F106). These were cancelled but a fifth ship was later added asCristóbal Colón (F105) (It has some improvements compared to the rest of the frigates of its class).
| 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 | 29 June 2007 | 4 November 2010 | 23 October 2012 | Active | ||
| F106 | Juan de Austria | Cancelled | |||||
| Hobart class | |||||||
| DDG 39 | Hobart | 6 September 2012 | 23 May 2015 | 23 September 2017 | Active | ||
| DDG 41 | Brisbane | 3 February 2014 | 15 December 2016 | 27 October 2018 | Active | ||
| DDG 42 | Sydney | 19 November 2015 | 19 May 2018 | 18 May 2020 | Active | ||
The class is the basis of the AustralianHobart-class destroyers, also known as the Air Warfare Destroyer. The Australian government announced in June 2007 that, in partnership withNavantia, three F100 vessels were built for theRoyal Australian Navy with the first due for delivery in 2014. However, this was delayed until 2017 when lead shipHMAS Hobart was commissioned. All three ships were in service by 2020.[citation needed]
TheFridtjof Nansen-class frigate of theRoyal Norwegian Navy is based on theÁlvaro de Bazán design. Five of these vessels were ordered in 2000. The Norwegian frigates were built by Navantia between 2003 and 2009. Four frigates are still in service.[citation needed]