Lockheed Martin and Navantia have extended their longstanding collaboration agreement, the two companies announced on 15 March 2024.
The latest agreement, signed in Madrid by Lockheed Martin executives Chauncey McIntosh and Joe DePietro and Navantia executives Donato Martínez and José Manuel Mondéjar, will extend the current agreement by three years and allow the companies to continue to explore commercial opportunities related to surface ships and submarines.
Lockheed Martin and Navantia’s relationship dates back to 1997 when their original agreement was signed, which facilitated the provision of Lockheed Martin’s Aegis combat system for the Spanish Navy’s five Álvaro de Bazán-class (F100) frigates. The F100s were the first ships of less than 9,000 tons to incorporate the Aegis combat system.
The two companies then collaborated on providing Norway with its Aegis-equipped Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates and Australia with its Aegis-equipped Hobart-class air warfare destroyers, as well as integrating the combat management and sonar systems into the Spanish Navy’s S-80 diesel-electric submarines (SSKs).
“Lockheed Martin values its decades long role as a strategic partner for Spain’s national defence and defence industry,” Chauncey McIntosh, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for integrated warfare systems and sensors, was quoted as saying in a joint press release. “Our collaboration on projects such as the F100 frigate and the F110 multi-mission frigate is a testament to our commitment to provide Spain the right capabilities for its missions. The extension of our longstanding relationship with Navantia will help sustain high-value jobs in Spain with the goal of further collaboration between our two companies.”
“Our focus to support not only the Spanish Navy’s mission needs but also our allies around the globe are foundational to our relationship with Navantia,” Joe DePietro, C6ISR vice president at Lockheed Martin. “Over nearly three decades we have expanded our collaboration to develop key capabilities and mission solutions from undersea warfare to integrated air and missile defence. We look forward to building upon our success and to equip service members with advanced technology solutions.”
Donato Martínez, Navantia’s systems and services vice president and CTO, stated, “We are honoured to renew and expand this longstanding relationship with Lockheed Martin, which has enabled us to offer state-of-the-art technology and defence solutions to the Spanish Navy as well as to our international clients. Our collaboration has been and continues to be pivotal in elevating our common products to the forefront of technology. Extending this collaboration demonstrates our commitment to designing, building and delivering the best solutions to our clients both in the surface ship and submarine domains.”
Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin and Navantia are making progress with the Spanish Navy’s five future F110 Aegis-equipped multi-mission frigates, the first two of which are currently under construction.
Major upcoming milestones for the two companies include tracking live objects with an AN/SPY-7(v)2 radar at Lockheed Martin’s Aegis-SCOMBA (Sistema de COMbate de los Buques de la Armada) Integration Center (ASIC) in Moorestown, New Jersey. The integration of the Aegis and SCOMBA Combat System tactical computer programmes will also take place at ASIC as well as Navantia’s land-based test site in San Fernando, Spain.
The companies’ joint press release stated that the first F110 frigate is on track to be commissioned in 2028.
The first of the Spanish Navy’s four S-80 Plus-class SSKs, which feature air-independent propulsion, was commissioned in November 2023.
