Spain Selects Upgraded Mark 45 Naval Guns for F-100 Frigates
;MINNEAPOLIS --- The Spanish Navy has selected the 5-Inch (127-mm) 54-Caliber Mark (Mk) 45 Mod 2 Lightweight Naval Gun as the main gun system to be deployed on board four ships of Spain's F-100 program. The four baseline Mk 45 Naval Guns for the F100-class ships are being supplied from U.S. Navy ships with mission profiles no longer requiring 5-inch guns on board. Subsequent to the Mk 45 Naval Gun transfer, the four Mk 45 systems will be refurbished and upgraded to Mk 45 Mod 2 system configuration by a contractor team of BAZAN and United Defense. The Mk 45 Mod 2 Naval Guns are scheduled for delivery from January 2001 to January 2004. ;The F100 gun system sale represents the first instance of US Navy Mk 45 assets being apportioned outside of the United States. "Spain's F100 ships were originally envisioned to mount a 76-mm naval gun, but the Mk 45 transfer and upgrade equation allows the Spanish Navy to cost-effectively acquire the larger caliber, more capable Mk 45 Mod 2 Naval Gun,'' said Frederick Strader, Vice-President and General Manager of United Defense, Armament System Division. The F100 program calls for construction of four frigates of approximately 6,000 tons, which will be built at the Ferrol Shipyard in Spain, a division of BAZAN. ;FABA, also a division of BAZAN, is the prime contractor for refurbishment and upgrade of the Mk 45 Naval Guns to the Mod 2 configuration. United Defense was selected as a key subcontractor to provide technical expertise and overhaul of major components at their facility in Louisville, Kentucky. United Defense is the Original Equipment Manufacturer of all configurations of the Mk 45 Naval Gun. ;The lightweight, fully automated Mk45 Naval Gun is designed, developed, produced and supported by United Defense Armament Systems Division, and has been deployed in progressively improved configurations on board United States Navy cruisers and destroyers since the early 1970's. Mk45 Mod 0-2 Naval Guns are currently also in service with the fleets of Australia, Greece, New Zealand, Thailand and Turkey. This year, United Defense will begin producing the Mk 45 Naval Gun in the new Mod 4 configuration, with capabilities to vastly improve naval gunfire range and effectiveness for littoral warfare and land attack missions. ;United Defense, Armament Systems Division, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, operates one of the largest engineering and manufacturing facilities in the area. The division employs 1,600 people in the design, manufacture, and support of defense systems for the Armed Forces of the United States and allied nations. ;Empresa Nacional BAZAN is Spain's state-owned shipbuilder specializing in naval construction, propulsion, weapon systems and life-cycle support. It is currently building amphibious transport ships, F100 Frigates, and mine countermeasures craft for the Spanish Navy.
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Spain Selects Upgraded Mark 45 Naval Guns for F-100 Frigates
