Last Friday, April 16th, the “flag raising” ceremony took place at Pier 1 of the Rota Naval Base to mark the completion of the structural framework of the Shore Integration Center (CIST) building. This milestone signifies the proper progress of the construction project and its incident-free execution.

The small and modest ceremony was attended by representatives of the Rota Naval Base, the consortium formed by NAVANTIA-INDRA (contractors for the F-110 Technological Projects), the construction company SEMI, and the project management team.

The CIST will serve as a testing facility, initially supporting the integration engineering, installation, and testing of sensors and systems to be incorporated into the new integrated mast of the F-110 frigates. It will also act as an industrial learning facility for the shipyard, aiding in the design and manufacturing of the mast. The center will allow for performance tests, adjustments, and calibrations in conditions simulating a marine operational environment, as well as ensuring electromagnetic compatibility among systems. Once the frigates are completed, the CIST will continue to support the lifecycle of these ships and test future sensor and communication systems.

The CIST consists of the building currently under construction and a partial replica of the integrated mast for the frigates, which is being manufactured at Navantia’s facilities in Ferrol. Upon completion, the mast will be transported by sea to Rota for installation on the building, followed by the integration of the new F-110 sensors in 2022. Navantia is responsible for constructing both the building and the mast, with support from Indra, its partner in the consortium, during the design phase of both components.

Through this project, SEMI reinforces its position as a leading company in the execution of strategic defense infrastructures with a strong R&D component.In the header image: From right to left, the Technical Chief of the CIST F110 program, Javier Balbuena Mora-Figueroa (Navantia); the Project Director, architect AN CIA Benito Ignacio Rodríguez-Pastoriza Alías; the Coordination Section Manager of the Infrastructure Command at Rota Naval Base, CF Raúl Antonio Martínez-Avial Areces; SEMI’s delegate, Miguel Mateos de la Barrera; and the Execution Director, engineer Ignacio Gargallo Sáinz de Vicuña, from Técnicas Gades.