Navantia gets deal to study frigates for Australia

Navantia, the Spanish state-owned ship builder, announced on 23 October that it had signed a deal to study the SEA 5000 future frigate programme.
The contract is designed to support research into adding radar systems to its F-105 frigate as Australia prepares to buy eight ships, and is looking at using assistance from Navantia to build the ships domestically instead of reaching a deal with an overseas supplier. The UK's Type 26 frigate and Italian variant of the FREMM are considered likely overseas competition.
The contract is for nine months of work.
janes