Buque de Acción MarÃtima
The Meteoro - class is a class of 2,505 tons displacing ocean-going patrol vessels of the Spanish Armada. The first boat was handed over to the Armada on 28 July 2011. Other three of the nine firm orders boats are in service.
History
The boats in Corvette size to be procured under the project Buques de Accion Maritima for patrols and a variety of tasks in the exclusive economic zone of the Kingdom of Spain. The company Navantia won the 340 million euro development and construction contract for the first four units on 31 May 2006. The contract for the construction of a second series of five boats was granted in August 2011. They are intended to replace various boat classes as the Barceló, Anaga, Conejera, Toralla and Descubierta class.
The first two units arrived in early June 2012 in her new home port of Las Palmas, where they are used to monitor the sea area between the Canaries and the West African coast.
Technology
In addition to the tasks mentioned above, the boats are also designed for support and assistance in third countries. They have a light armament and equipped for rescue and emergency measures. This includes medical care, material handling and the fight against pollution. To this end, they also have a helicopter deck including associated hangar. They are built with the exception of some military aspects of commercial aviation standards. It is driven by a CODOE system ( CODOE = COmbined Diesel Or Electric), which consists of two MTU diesel engines with 4500 kW and two electric motors with 750 kW.
The Corvette size allows a degree of autonomy in operations with appropriate accommodation for the crew and other people. The highly automated weapons and sensor systems are designed so that they have a wide compatibility with other ships of the Armada.
Units
The first four ships will be built on Navantias San Fernando - Puerto Real shipyard in San Fernando, the home port of Las Palmas.
Getting money for the second, consisting of five units Baulos were planned in the budget for 2011. Three of them should be construed as patrol boats, one for search and rescue ( SAR) and another for ocean research. The boats should be completed by 2015, had been to June 2012 but has not yet appointed by the new government.
Interest in the acquisition of such boats have shown Australia, South Africa and Turkey.