Espora-class corvette

The Espora-class corvettes are six warships of the Argentine Navy built in Argentina to the German MEKO 140A16 design, this in turn being based on the Portuguese João Coutinho-class project. The first entered service in 1985 but accidents and lack of funds meant the last was not completed until 2004. The ships currently form the 2nd Corvette Division of the Argentine Navy and their home port is the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base. Although considered by its designers to be frigates, the Espora-class vessels have been classed in Argentina as corvettes.

ARA Espora
Class overview
BuildersAFNE "Río Santiago"
Operators Argentine Navy
SubclassesEspora
In commission1985–present
Completed6
General characteristics
TypeCorvette
Displacement1,560 tons (1,790 tons full load)[1]
Length91.2 m (299 ft 3 in)[1]
Beam11.0 m (36 ft 1 in)[1]
Draught3.33 m (10 ft 11 in)[1] (hull)
Installed power22,600 bhp (16.9 MW)[1]
Propulsion2 × SEMT Pielstick 16 PC 2–5 V400 diesels, 2 × 5-blade props[1]
Speed27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)[1]
Range4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[1]
Complement11 officers, 46 petty officers, 36 enlisted[1]
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Thales DA-05/2 air/surface search
  • Thales WM-28, LIROD fire control
  • Decca TM 1226 navigation
  • (Consilium Selesmar NavBat on P45/6
  • Atlas AQS-1 hull MF sonar[1]
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • Decca RDC-2ABC
  • Decca RCM-2 jammer
  • 2 × Matra Dagaie decoys[1]
Armament
Aircraft carried1 × Eurocopter Fennec (P44-P46)
Aviation facilitiesHelideck (all), telescoping hangar (P44-P46)

The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions.[4] The Espora class has not been immune – Espora herself spent 73 days in South Africa in late 2012 in a dispute about payment for repairs to its generators. The operational status of Parker and Rosales is not clear, as of November 2012 they were waiting for spares,[4] whilst Spiro lost her sonar in a grounding accident in August 2012. In 2019, Rosales was reported as scheduled to be scrapped.[5] However, one year later training activities were still being conducted on her and in 2021 she was undergoing repair work for an envisaged return to service in 2022.[6][7][8] She returned to service in September 2022.[9]

Parker was subsequently selected for conversion to the offshore patrol role and entered refit for that purpose in late 2021. The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.[10]

Construction

The 1974 Naval Constructions National Plan was an initiative by the Argentine Navy to replace old World War II-vintage ships with more advanced warships. The original plan called for six MEKO 360H2 destroyers, four of them to be built in Argentina, but the plan was later modified to include four MEKO destroyers built in Germany and six corvettes built in Argentina, for anti-surface warfare and patrol operations.

The ships were designed by the German shipyard Blohm + Voss as a development of the Portuguese Navy's João Coutinho-class corvettes, designed by the Portuguese naval engineer Rogério de Oliveira in the late 1960s. All the ships of the class were built in Argentina at the AFNE "Río Santiago" shipyard, close to the city of La Plata in Buenos Aires Province. The contract was signed on 1 August 1979 and the pennant numbers P10-P15 were assigned until they were changed to P41-P46 in 1988.

The first three (P-41-P-43) were commissioned between 1985 and 1987, but Parker was delayed until 1990 after flooding on 2 October 1986. Fitting out of Robinson and Gómez Roca was suspended in 1992, briefly restarted in July 1994 and resumed on 18 July 1997. These last two have improved automation, communication and electronics systems; along with Parker they have a telescopic hangar fitted. All members of the class have the Thales DAISY combat data system, but Robinson has an indigenous command system as well.

Service history

Spiro and Rosales participated in the multinational task force blockading Iraq as part of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990/1991. The Esporas enforced the Argentine exclusive economic zone and captured a number of illegal fishing vessels in the early 1990s.

In August 2012 Spiro hit a sandbank as she left Mar del Plata and lost her sonar. This meant Espora had to make an unscheduled deployment to replace her in the Atlasur IX naval exercise off West Africa. Espora left home with unresolved problems in her generators, which became worse until she ended up in South Africa with three failed generators. The German manufacturers MTU refused to repair them without payment in advance since Argentina still owed them money for previous work, so Espora spent 73 days at Simonstown until the dispute was finally resolved and the repairs completed.

As of 2020 life extension programs for at least two units of the class were planned with work to be carried out at the Río Santiago Shipyard. This work might incorporate a conversion of the operational profile of two ships, possibly toward supporting offshore patrol missions.[11][12] The first ship selected for conversion to the offshore patrol role is Parker.

As of 2021, the corvettes Espora, Spiro, Robinson and Gómez Roca were all reported active and in September participated in a naval exercise also involving the destroyer Sarandí and aircraft from Argentine naval aviation.[13]

Specifications
  • Displacement: n/a tons (empty); 1,790 tons (full load)
  • Length: n/a ft (91.2 m)
  • Beam: n/a ft (11.1 m)
  • Draught: n/a ft (4.5 m)
  • Propulsion:
    • 2 shafts / propellers
    • 2 Semt-Pielstick 16 PC2-5 V 400 diesel engines, 20,400 shp (15,200 kW) tot.
    • Max shaft horsepower: n/a shp max
  • Speed: 27 knots (50 km/h)
  • Range: 4,000 nautical miles (7,000 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
  • Armament
    • 4 × Aérospatiale MM 38 Exocet SSM (As of 2020, work was underway to maintain the missile's operational relevance; missiles removed from Parker given her 2021-23 conversion to the offshore patrol role)[14][10]
    • 1 × 3/62 (76 mm) OTO Melara DP compact gun
    • 2 × twin 40 mm 70-cal. OTO Melara (Breda Bofors) AA guns
    • 2 × 12.7 mm machine guns
    • 2 × triple 324 mm ILAS-3 ASW torpedo tubes (Whitehead AS-244 torpedoes, quantity n/a)
  • Aircraft: aft helicopter deck (and telescopic hangar in the second batch vessels); 1 SA-319B Alouette III or 1 AS-555-SN Fennec helicopter
  • Complement:100
  • Radar:
    • Air/Surface Search & helicopter control: Signaal DA05 (equipped with IFF).
    • Fire Control: Signaal WM2
    • Navigation: Decca TM 1226
  • Sonar: Atlas Elektronik ASO 4 (hull)
  • Electronic Warfare
    • Decoys: (no details available)
  • Datalink: Signaal Sewaco
  • Weapons Control System: Signaal WM22/41, Lirod director (radar/optronic)
  • Concept/Program: German designed, Argentine built general purpose frigates (classified as "corvettes" by the Argentine navy).
  • Builder: AFNE "Rio Santiago" shipyard, La Plata, Argentina.
  • Designer: Blohm + Voss, Hamburg, Germany.
  • Design: MEKO 140 modular design.

Ships in the class

First Batch:

Second Batch:

References
  1. Wertheim, Eric (2007). The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems (15 ed.). Naval Institute Press. p. 9. ISBN 9781591149552.
  2. Solá, Mariano Germán Videla (6 October 2022). "De corbetas a patrulleros: un recurso que sigue vigente" [From corvettes to patrol boats: a resource that is still valid]. Zona Militar (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2022 – via Google Translate.
  3. "El astillero Tandanor reequipará la corbeta ARA Parker para especializarla en patrullaje «anti-pesca» ilegal" [The Tandanor shipyard will re-equip the corvette ARA Parker to specialize it in illegal "anti-fishing" patrol]. Agendar (in Spanish). 3 January 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  4. "Argentine navy short on spares and resources for training and maintenance". MercoPress. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-12-28.
  5. Axe, David (31 December 2019). "Time Is Running Out To Save Argentina's Navy And Air Force From Obsolesence [sic]". The National Interest. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Yahoo! News.
  6. "La corbeta ARA "Rosales" cumplió con diversos adiestramientos". gacetamarinera.com.ar (in Spanish). 27 August 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  7. "La Armada Argentina y Tandanor ultiman el carenado de la corbeta ARA Rosales". infodefensa.com (in Spanish). 12 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  8. "ARA Rosales Conducts Trials After Refit at Tandanor Shipyard". Seawaves Magazine. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  9. "Taiana supervisó un ejercicio de la flota de mar frente a la costa" [Taiana oversaw a sea fleet exercise off the coast]. Télam (in Spanish). 15 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  10. Solá, Mariano Germán Videla (22 September 2022). "NVAP y CITEDEF junto a la Armada Argentina participarán del proyecto de modernización de la corbeta ARA Parker" [INVAP and CITEDEF together with the Argentine Navy will participate in the modernization project of the corvette ARA Parker]. Zona Militar (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  11. "La Armada Argentina extenderá la vida útil de las MEKO 140". zona-militar.com (in Spanish). 27 August 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  12. "El Ministerio de Defensa delinea el reequipamiento de la Armada Argentina". infodefensa.com (in Spanish). 10 August 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  13. "La Armada Argentina sale de maniobras". defensa.com (in Spanish). 2 September 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  14. Diáz, José Javier (13 October 2020). "Proyectos de Investigación y Desarrollo en la Armada Argentina". zona-militar.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 October 2021.

Bibliography
  • Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005–2006. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, ISBN 987-43-9400-5, Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text)
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