Since April 2019, the state-owned Navantia shipyard has had a contract with the Spanish Navy for the construction of five F-110 multi-purpose frigates - first delivery in 2028, worth around 4.4 billion euros. Special new features of this ship type are the block production of 33 hull sections, which is being introduced at Navantia for the first time, and a land-based "digital twin", which each ship will receive in the form of modern system management.
F-110 virtual twin, graphic: Navantia
The shipbuilding work on the type ship, the Almirante Bonifaz (F-111), began in 2022 at Navantia in Ferrol and now allows a critical look at the schedule. As expected, delays and delivery bottlenecks are usually explained eloquently and flowerily. Not so in this case, as was already apparent at the end of last year: work has progressed on 31 of the 33 hull and superstructure blocks, nine blocks are already in the outfitting hall (including two blocks for the separate system integration plant) - and all four months ahead of schedule! So much for the type ship and the section construction method. Work on construction number 2, Roger de Lauria (F-112), is currently eight months ahead of schedule, and the first steel cut for construction number 3 can take place in September 2024, ten months ahead of schedule. Ingenious! Or just piss poor planning? Because if the usual "too late" in shipbuilding turns into a clear "too early", then all the time-path points for deliveries and system developments have to be adjusted, which can lead to even greater chaos. But that doesn't seem to bother the Spanish soul - quite the opposite. With this type of ship, the fundamental innovations in specially converted shipyard facilities seem to be going much better than had been carefully calculated. Impossible, really - for a Spaniard to turn up on time!
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