Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate

The Álvaro de Bazán class, also known as the F100 class, is a class of Aegis combat system-equipped air defence frigates in service with the Spanish Navy. The vessels were built by Spanish shipbuilder Navantia in Ferrol, with the lead ship of the class named for Admiral Álvaro de Bazán.

Álvaro de Bazán, lead ship of the class, in 2014.
Class overview
Name	Álvaro de Bazán class
Builders	NAVANTIA-IZAR, Astillero Ferrol
Operators	Spanish Navy  Royal Australian Navy | Royal Norwegian Navy
Preceded by	Baleares class
Succeeded by	F110 class
Subclasses	Hobart class
Cost	F101-4: €453 million[1] per unit F105: €834 million[1]
Planned	6
Cancelled	1
Active	5
General characteristics [2]
Type	Guided-missile frigate
Displacement	5,800 long tons (5,900 t) (standard load) 6,391 long tons (6,494 t) (full load)
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	46,650 hp (34,790 kW) gas turbines 12,000 hp (8,900 kW) diesel engines
Propulsion	CODOG: 2 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines 2 × Caterpillar 3600 diesel engines 2 × Propellers
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 and processing systems	Lockheed Martin AN/SPY-1D 3D multifunction radar Raytheon SPS-67(V)4 surface search radar Raytheon DE1160 LF active and passive sonar 2 × ARIES navigation/surface radar 2 × Raytheon AN/SPG-62 Mk99 radar illuminator
Electronic warfare & decoys	4 × FMC SRBOC Mk36 flare launchers SLQ-25A Enhanced Nixie torpedo countermeasures Indra SLQ-380 EW suite Indra Mk 9500 interceptor
Armament	1 × 5 in (127.0 mm)/54 Mk45 Mod 2 gun Provision for one CIWS FABA 20 mm/120 Meroka system. 1 × Mark 41 (VLS) (48-cell) 2 × 20 mm autocannon (F101-104) 2 × 25 mm autocannon (F105) 32 × Standard SM-2MR Block IIIA 64 × RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (4 per cell) 8× RGM-84 Harpoon (To be replaced with Naval Strike Missile) 2 × twin 12.75 in (323.8 mm) Mark 32 Mod 9 torpedo tubes with 12 Honeywell Mark 46 Mod 5 torpedoes
Aircraft carried	1 × SH-60 Seahawk

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. The Álvaro de Bazán-class multi-role frigates are one of the few non-US warships to carry the Aegis system and its associated SPY-1D radar. The American Arleigh Burke class, Japanese Kongo class, Korean Sejong the Great class, Australian Hobart class, and the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen class also use the Aegis system.

When the F-100 was designed, the United States communicated that it was impossible to implement the Aegis system in ships of less than 7000 tons, 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 the Spanish ships and therefore receive information earlier than U.S. or Japanese ships.

The Álvaro 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).