Lockheed Martin, Navantia renew partnership with new MoA

Marking the 20th anniversary of their collaboration on naval projects, Lockheed Martin and Navantia signed a new memorandum of agreement (MoA) to continue their cooperation on new naval projects.

Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate to explore mutually beneficial new business opportunities in the areas of surface ships and naval combat systems.

Navantia and Lockheed Martin started working together in 1997 when LM supplied the Spanish Navy with the Aegis Combat System for the F-100 frigates Navantia was constructing.

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.

Between 2000 and 2010, Lockheed Martin and Navantia delivered four F-100 frigates to the Spanish Navy, and in 2013 a fifth and final was commissioned.

In 2000, the Royal Norwegian Navy selected Navantia to develop and build five Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates, the last one of which launched in 2009. After the Norwegian frigates, the Australian Hobart class was designed, based on the F-100 with an updated Aegis Combat System configuration, the first of which was delivered to the Royal Australian Navy in September.

The companies will now be working together on the Spanish Navy’s new F-110 frigates.

“The fundamental openness, trust, and transparency between Lockheed Martin and Navantia laid a tremendous foundation 20 years ago to build a world-class capability for the Spanish Navy, the Royal Norwegian Navy, and the Royal Australian Navy,” said Michele Evans, Lockheed Martin Vice President, Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors. “Today, the future remains bright as we look across the world and continue to expand Aegis alongside the tremendous shipbuilding capability that Navantia brings.”

“With the success of the F-100, Fridtjof Nansen, and Hobart programs in our sails and F-110 just in front of us, we are excited to see what the next 20 years of this great partnership between two world-class companies can offer,” Navantia Vice President, Sofia Honrubia said.