On Thursday, September 11, 2025, as announced by the Spanish company Navantia, a christening and launching ceremony was held at its shipyard in Ferrol, in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia, for the hull of the first of five F110-class guided-missile frigates, Bonifaz (F111), intended for the Spanish Navy (Armada Española). The ships are being built under the ALTAMAR program.
Photos: Navantia
The steel cutting for the ship took place on April 6, 2022, and the keel was laid on August 9, 2023. The vessel will now undergo outfitting, armament installation, and harbor and sea trials before being handed over to the customer.
The ship’s sponsor was Queen Sofía (known in Poland as Zofia of Greece), wife of King Juan Carlos I, who reigned from 1975 to 2014 until his abdication. The event was attended by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, President of the Xunta de Galicia Alfonso Rueda, the Government Delegate in Galicia Pedro Blanco, and the Mayor of Ferrol José Manuel Rey, as well as representatives of the armed forces, including Chief of the Defense Staff (JEMAD) Adm. Teodoro López Calderón, and key figures from the shipbuilding industry, including Navantia’s president, Ricardo Domínguez.
Two more ships are currently under construction: Roger de Lauria (F112) and Menéndez de Avilés (F113), with Luis de Córdova (F114) scheduled for steel cutting this year and Barceló (F115) next year. The vessels were ordered on April 23, 2019, for the equivalent of 4.325 billion EUR as replacements for the six F80-class (Santa Maria) frigates, license-built versions of the American Oliver Hazard Perry class. They are scheduled to enter service between 2028 and 2032.
The F110 design is a modified version of the F100 (Álvaro de Bazán) class, with dimensions of 145 m in length, 18 m in beam, 5 m in draft, and a standard displacement of 6,100 t. Thanks to the quiet hybrid propulsion system in a CODELADOG (Combined Diesel-Electric And Diesel Or Gas) configuration, consisting of a GE LM-2500 gas turbine and four MTU 4000 diesel engines powering two electric motors, along with a power system of four 3 MW generators, the ships will achieve speeds of over 26 knots and a range of around 4,100 nautical miles at 15 knots.
The primary armament will include a 127 mm OTO Melara 127/64 LW Vulcano automatic gun, two 30 mm cannons, a close-in weapon system (either the 20 mm Mk 15 Phalanx or the 35 mm Oerlikon Millennium), RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, a 16-cell Mk 41 vertical launch system for RIM-162 ESSM (Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile) Block 2 short-range SAMs, and two 8-cell Mk 54 launchers for SM-2 Block IIIB long-range SAMs, as well as Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers ordered on December 15, 2023, for EUR 305 million, and 324 mm Mk 54 Mod 0 lightweight torpedo launchers.
The crew will consist of 150 officers and sailors, and the aviation component will include two NH90 NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter) multirole helicopters. A key feature of the class will be the integrated MASTIN mast, incorporating the Lockheed Martin AN/SPY-7(V)2 S-band radar with four fixed antenna arrays, the SCOMBA (Sistema de Combate de los Buques de la Armada) combat management system (a Spanish variant of the U.S. Aegis Combat System), as well as communications, electronic warfare systems, and sensors. The modular design will allow the ships to be adapted for various missions without altering the hull structure. The sonar will be supplied by SAES (Sociedad Anónima de Electrónica Submarina), with navigation and communications systems provided by Navantia Sistemas and external communications by Rohde & Schwarz Spain.
