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Navantia completes barge shock testing for F-110 frigate programme equipment

By Kate Tringham |

Final barge shock tests involving the ship's electric propulsion motor and frequency converter for the F-110 frigate programme took place in November 2024. (Navantia)

Spanish state-owned shipbuilder Navantia has successfully completed all of the barge shock qualification tests for electrical and propulsion equipment for the Spanish Navy's Bonifaz (F-110)-class frigate programme.

Announcing the milestone on 3 February, Navantia said the final barge shock tests, which involved the ship's electric propulsion motor and frequency converter, took place on 28 November 2024. Following on from shock tests conducted on 31 October 2024 for the Navantia-MTU 20V 4000 M53B diesel generator, the main switchboard, and the fuel purifier module, these tests marked the completion of all testing planned to be carried out on barges for the F-110 programme propulsion system, the shipbuilder said.

All shock qualification tests were conducted at Thornton Tomasetti Defence Ltd's (TTDL's) Shock Test Vehicle (STV02) barge at the Limehillock facilities in Scotland, and involved submitting the operating equipment to several underwater detonations of increasing severity.

The working team included representatives from Navantia and TTDL, as well as the manufacturers of the tested equipment, including Ingeteam for the design and manufacture of electrical naval propulsion equipment (both frequency converter and electric motor); Navantia Engines, Rolls-Royce (MTU), and Alconza for the diesel generator (the latter supplying the alternators); Elinsa for the main switchboard; and GEA Westfalia for the fuel purifier module.

The Spanish Navy's F-110 frigate programme aims to provide the service with a new class of five next-generation multirole frigates primed for anti-submarine warfare tasks and features an anti-aircraft warfare capability.

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