Navantia and Lockheed Martin have signed an agreement to renew their partnership for a new period of three years in order to collaborate to explore mutually beneficial new business opportunities in the areas of surface ships and naval combat systems.
Navantia and Lockheed Martin began a successful relationship in 1997, the collaboration between both companies to provide the Spanish Navy with the AEGIS Combat System in the F-100 frigates.
The F-100 was the first frigate to incorporate the Aegis Combat System from Lockheed Martin in a ship of less than 9,000-tons. Thanks to this collaboration, the Spanish Navy now operates state-of-the-art oceanic escorts, optimised to act as command ships in conflict scenarios, trained to provide full coverage to expeditionary forces, with high anti-air warfare capability, total integration with the most advanced units of our allied nations, as well as a successful case of industrial cooperation, with a combat management system developed by Navantia and the integration of Spanish sensors and weapons.
Besides the five frigates F-100 in service for the Spanish Navy, the collaboration between Navantia and Lockheed Martin also applied to the construction of five Fridtjof Nansen-class Frigates for the Norwegian Navy and three air warfare destroyers (AWD) for the Australian Navy, the Hobart class, based on the F-100 with an updated Aegis Combat System configuration.
On the solid foundation of this partnership, both companies are developing the frigates of the next generation for the Spanish Navy, F-110, and collaborating in other commercial opportunities around the globe.
“As a result of the partnership between Lockheed Martin and Navantia, the F-110 Frigate will soon join the families of frigates with excellent technological capabilities that sail through waters around the world protecting safety and freedom. Our successful industrial cooperation will undoubtedly facilitate new commercial opportunities”, declared the commercial and business development director of Navantia, Javier Herrador.
“The Spanish Navy is one of the oldest active naval forces in the world, and Lockheed Martin is proud to be part of that history through our partnership with Spain on the F-100 Frigate, S-80 Submarine, and now the future F-110 multi-mission Frigate programme”, said Jon Rambeau, integrated warfare systems and sensors vice-president and general manager at Lockheed Martin. “Alongside partners like Navantia, with whom we have worked closely over several decades, it is an honour to build on our past successes toward an exciting future together”.