Espora-class corvette

	ARA Espora
Class overview
Builders	AFNE "Río Santiago"
Operators	Argentine Navy
Subclasses	Espora
In commission	1985–present
Completed	6
General characteristics
Type	Corvette
Displacement	1,560 tons (1,790 tons full load)
Length	91.2 m (299 ft 3 in)
Beam	11.0 m (36 ft 1 in)
Draught	3.33 m (10 ft 11 in) (hull)
Installed power	22,600 bhp (16.9 MW)
Propulsion	2 × SEMT Pielstick 16 PC 2–5 V400 diesels, 2 × 5-blade props
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	11 officers, 46 petty officers, 36 enlisted
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;
Electronic warfare ; & decoys	Decca RDC-2ABC; Decca RCM-2 jammer; 2 × Matra Dagaie decoys;
Armament	4 × MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles (removed from Parker); 1 × 76 mm/62 OTO Melara dual purpose gun; 2 × DARDO twin 40 mm AA guns; 2 × .50 cal machine guns; 2 × triple 324 mm ILAS-3 tubes (WASS A-244S torpedoes);
Aircraft carried	1 × Eurocopter Fennec (P44-P46)
Aviation facilities	Helideck (all), telescoping hangar (P44-P46)

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.

The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. 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, whilst Spiro lost her sonar in a grounding accident in August 2012. In 2019, Rosales was reported as scheduled to be scrapped. 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. She returned to service in September 2022.

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.

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