Spain recently launched the first of its new F110 class frigates, also known as the Bonifaz class. This warship is notable for its combination of high-end anti-submarine warfare functions paired with anti-air warfare abilities and its distinctive tall mast, mounting elements of a sophisticated radar system. Noteworthy, too, is the fact that the F110 is a follow-on to Spain’s successful F100 class, a design optimized for anti-air warfare and previously pitched to the U.S. Navy for its future frigate competition, or FFG(X), which eventually became the Constellation class.

The first of the F110 class, also named Bonifaz, was launched by Spanish shipbuilder Navantia Sistemas at its Ferrol yard in Galicia, northern Spain, on September 11. The warship is already over 70 percent complete, and fitting out will continue ahead of planned delivery to the Spanish Navy in 2028. The ship features a high degree of automation and the ability for capabilities expansion in the future.

The Bonifaz is the first of five frigates in its class on order for the Spanish Navy, which will use them to eventually replace its six 1980s-era F80 Santa María class frigates, which are based on the U.S. Navy’s Oliver Hazard Perry class design.

Including the lead ship, three of the 6,000-ton frigates in the new class are currently under construction in Ferrol, with four hull blocks for the F112 already on the slipway after its keel-laying in April 2025. The remaining blocks of the F112 and all nine blocks of the F113 are being built in the workshops.

The frigates have some low-observable (stealthy) features and are designed with a degree of flexibility, allowing crew complements, weapons, and sensors to be adapted to meet new mission requirements.

From the outset, the F110 class was intended to be a true multi-mission warship. Therefore, its primary anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission does not mean that its anti-air warfare capability has to be entirely scaled back, although its surface-to-air missile armament is surprisingly light in this context, as we will go on to discuss.

Central to the F110 design is Lockheed Martin’s AN/SPY-7(V)2 radar and International Aegis Fire Control Loop (IAFCL), acquired under a U.S. government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract. These components are integrated on the vessel by Navantia, together with its proprietary Sistema de Combate de los Buques de la Armada (SCOMBA) combat management system.

The installation of the AN/SPY-7(V)2 enclosure very high up on the warship’s extended superstructure helps ensure the radar provides uniquely long line-of-sight coverage for its size. This type of design reflects a wider trend for high-mounted sensor masts, typified by the distinctive UNICORN mast on top of the main superstructure of the Japanese Mogami class frigate. Still, the F110 appears to take this concept to new heights.

The SPY-7 is a very capable sensor that has, in the past, demonstrated its ability to track small targets outside the Earth’s atmosphere, as you can read about here. This test, however, involved the AN/SPY-7(V)1 version of the radar, and the exact relationship between the two, in terms of capabilities, is not entirely clear.

Suffice it to say, the shipborne SPY-7’s design draws major influence from the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), a ground-based early-warning radar installed at Clear Space Force Station in Alaska. The SPY-7, especially its ability to track targets in space, makes it highly relevant for the ballistic missile defense mission.

While the F110 class won’t be armed with weapons able to destroy ballistic missiles, especially during the midcourse part of their flight, data from its radar can be passed to other vessels and land-based systems that can. The exceptional capabilities of the SPY-7 can also be used to maximize the potential of the Spanish Navy’s existing F100 frigates, which are more optimized for anti-air warfare.

Otherwise, for air defense, the new F110 has a relatively light armament, comprising the Block 2 version of the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). These are accommodated in two eight-cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems (VLS), each cell being loaded with a quad pack of missiles, for a total of 64 ESSMs. These protect the frigates from airborne threats at short to medium ranges and can provide a basic area air defense capability for covering other assets nearby. Work is about to begin on a new, even more capable generation of ESSMs. It’s possible we could see longer-range missiles added in the future, specifically from the Standard Missile family.

A video showing the first Evolved Seasparrow Missile Block 2 firings off the coast of California, June 12-13, 2017:

For its primary ASW mission, the F110 class is equipped with a hull-mounted sonar and the highly capable CAPTAS-4 Compact towed array sonar, both provided by Thales, and a flight deck for a single SH-60 or NH90 helicopter, with two hangar bays. The second bay can also be used for unmanned systems or to augment the ship’s already large mission expansion areas. Submarine targets can be prosecuted by the helicopter or by the warship’s own torpedoes.

For anti-surface warfare, the F110 class is armed with a pair of four-cell launchers for the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM).

The complete armament package for the Spanish Navy’s new frigates also includes a 127mm gun in a turret on the bow, a pair of 30mm cannons, and mounts for crew-operated machine guns at various points along the deck. It can also launch small boats from bays on its side and the ship will be equipped with advanced decoys and an electronic warfare self protection and electronic surveillance suite.

In many respects, the F110 class is indicative of new-generation frigate design, in which, although ASW is the primary mission, a balanced outfit of sensors and weapons ensures the warships are capable of a range of missions. A similar design ethos can be seen in the British Type 26 design, for example, which is being built for the U.K. Royal Navy, with variants for Australia and Canada. Norway also recently announced it would be buying the Type 26.

As we discussed in the past, the U.S. Navy overlooked participating in the Type 26 program for its future frigate competition, or FFG(X), which was eventually won by a design derived from the Italian Navy’s version of the European multipurpose frigate or Fregata Europea Multi-Missione (FREMM). This is now being built for the U.S. Navy as the Constellation class.

The Constellations are set to be the U.S. Navy’s next class of small surface combatants, and the service has said in the past that it wants to buy at least 20 of them. Like the F110 class, these will be multi-mission ships, with a mixture of anti-air, anti-ship, and anti-submarine capabilities, designed to supplement larger surface action groups or operate independently. The Constellation class will be more heavily armed than the F110 class though.

Interestingly, the U.S. Navy rejected a Spanish proposal for FFG(X), which would have been based on the F100, or Álvaro de Bazán class frigate.

As it stands, the Constellation class program is mired in problems, including unexpected growth in their overall weight that could see their top speeds cut back. This is just one issue that’s affecting the new frigate, driven by the challenges of major changes in the ship’s configuration compared to the original FREMM design. Ironically, the entire purpose of basing the FFG(X) on an existing in-production frigate was to help reduce costs, delivery times, and risk. Instead, the warships have ended up larger, heavier, and also years behind schedule.

Of course, we don’t know how the FFG(X) program would have panned out, should the U.S. Navy have chosen the F100-based Spanish design instead of the FREMM.

At this point, however, the F110 frigate program appears to be progressing in a timely manner, with the Bonifaz going into the water a month ahead of schedule.

With various navies having a requirement for new frigates, the F110 could well end up being an attractive export product, too, and at the very least will be a potent complement to the Álvaro de Bazán class frigates.

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