Butro Class
| Butro Class Destroyer | |
 Butro Class Destroyer | |
| Career | File:800px-Flag of Euskadi.png |
|---|---|
| Nationality: | Euskadi |
| Operated by: | Eusko Itsas Gudarostea |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding Refurbished by Euskalduna Ontziolak SA |
| Ordered: | First of class: September 1998 |
| Commissioned: | First of class: January 1999 |
| Status: | In Service |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 8,440 tons |
| Length: | 172 m |
| Beam: | 16.8 m |
| Draft: | 8.8 m |
| Power: | Mk2 110 MW |
| Propulsion: | Mk2 NAtech Hybrid Multi-Gas Power Plant with two pods |
| Speed: | Mk2 35 knots |
| Maximum speed: | Mk2 41 knots |
| Range: | Mk2 8,100 nautical miles at 35 knots |
| Complement: | 224 (44 officers) |
| Armament: | Sensors Mk2 1 x TERMA C-Flex Combat Management System 1 x TERMA C-Fire Fire Control System 2 x Saab EOS 500 Electro Optical Fire Control 2 x TERMA SCANTER 4100 Surveillance Radar 1 x Kongsberg C-Scope Sonar System Electronic warfare Mk2 1 x TERMA SME-200 Tactical EMS / ELINT 1 x TERMA NLWS Naval Laser Warning System Decoys 1 x TERMA DL-12T decoy launcher 1 x TERMA Loki torpedo countermeasure Armament Mk2 4 × 8-cell Ezpata Vertical Launching System 16 × Arpoi SSMs 4 × torpedo tubes for Torpedo 2000 Depth charges 1 × 57 mm AB BOFORS Mk.3 4 × 12,7 mm M2 Browning M2HB HMG Sea Protector 2 x Long Range Acoustic Device 1 × spare CIWS gun w/ calibre 40 mm |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 x AS532 Cougar ASUW / ASW 1 UAV |
The Butro Class destroyer was the first surface combatant ships of the Eusko Itsas Gudarostea over 7,000 tons. The ships are named after Euskadi castles, with the lead ship of the class bearing the name of Butro. The ships were Spruance Class Destroyers bough in 1998 from the US Navy. Eight ships were ordered in 1998 and four more in 2000.
Background
After The Revolts of African Territories, it was clear that maintaining a first level navy would be necessary to maintain the overseas territories and to ensure the presence of Euskadi in international scenaries. With this idea on mind the government ordered IEIA to get a number of ships to be bought in a short time and able to be refitted into national standards.
At the beginning of 1998, the US Navy had started retiring their Spruance Class destroyers and US Government agreed to the sale of 12 units to Euskadi. The first eight units were commissioned by the EIG in February 1999 and the other eight in September 2000 after being upgraded to Mk2 version. The first eight were upgraded between 2001 and 2004 and today all the Butro Class vessels are Mk2 version.
Currently all 12 destroyers are in service and it is planned to retire them in 2018-2020.
Design
The Spruance design was modular in nature, allowing for easy installation of entire subsystems within the ship. Although originally designed for anti-submarine warfare, once acquired by Euskadi they should be used as multirole vessels. That's why IEIA immediately began working on a series of upgrades (Mk2) that ended up in 2004 with changes in the following parts:
- A brand new power system with NAtech Hybrid Multi-Gas Power Plant
- A new total power of 110 MW
- A brand new fully electrical propulsion system with 2 ABB AZIPODs azimut thrusters mounted externally to the main hull
- Changes in all electronic systems to fully compatibility with new national standards
- A new weapon system in accordance with new operational requirements, specially:
Power generation & propulsion Mk2
The power plant of the ship has been redesigned to suit the needs and requirements of the Eusko Itsas Gudarostea and the new systems and elements of the ship. IEIA chose to equip the ship with a clean fuel cell propulsion system developed by the company NAtech .
The power plant of the ship was designed taking into account the current needs of energy for propulsion and other systems on board, so it was possible to assume an increase in power required if new equipment or systems were installed in the future.
For the propulsion of the ship NAtech has developed a solution combining 2 NAtech Statpower System power plants of 40 MW each with 4 NAsoft ST energy servers with 7MW power each. Aditional 4 NAsoft ST energy servers provide the electricity needed for the ship military and support systems.
The propulsion system is fully electrical with two shafts. The electricity for the motors is supplied by the power system.
Electronic systems Mk2
One of the main design premises was the need to mount Euskadi made electronic systems in order to full integration with other Armed Forces systems and satellite net.
Sensors
- 1 x TERMA C-Flex Combat Management System
- 1 x TERMA C-Fire Fire Control System
- 1 x Saab EOS 500 Electro Optical Fire Control
- 1 x TERMA SCANTER 4100 Surveillance Radar
- 1 x Kongsberg C-Scope Sonar System
Electronic warfare
Decoys
Armament Mk2
The weapons system of the class are:
- 4 × 8-cell Ezpata Vertical Launching System
- 16 × Arpoi SSMs
- 4 × torpedo tubes for Torpedo 2000
- Depth charges
- 2 × 57 mm AB BOFORS Mk.3
- 4 × 12,7 mm M2 Browning M2HB HMG Sea Protector
- 2 × spare CIWS gun w/ calibre 40 mm
Air wing
The ships have a fligh deck for:
- 1 x AS532 Cougar ASUW / ASW
List of ships
| # | Name | Ordered | Commissioned |
| D-11 | EEO Butro | September 1998 | January 1999 |
| D-12 | EEO Malvecin | September 1998 | January 1999 |
| D-13 | EEO Martiatu | September 1998 | January 1999 |
| D-14 | EEO Muñatones | September 1998 | January 1999 |
| D-15 | EEO Unzueta | September 1998 | June 1999 |
| D-16 | EEO Zahar | September 1998 | June 1999 |
| D-17 | EEO San Markos | September 1998 | June 1999 |
| D-18 | EEO Labraza | September 1998 | June 1999 |
| D-19 | EEO Zalatambor | March 2000 | November 2000 |
| D-20 | EEO Olite | March 2000 | November 2000 |
| D-21 | EEO Mendoza | March 2000 | November 2000 |
| D-22 | EEO Esquivel | March 2000 | November 2000 |