F125-class frigate

F222 Baden-Württemberg under construction
Class overview
Builders: Thyssen-Krupp/Lürssen
Operators:  German Navy
Preceded by: Bremen class
Cost: ca. € 650 million per ship (can increased 3% p. a.)
Built: 2011-present
In service: mid-2017
In commission: November 2016
Building: 4
Planned: 4
General characteristics (Note that the final design may differ.)
Type: Frigate
Displacement: 7,200 tonnes
Length: 149.52 m (490 ft 7 in)
Beam: 18.80 m (61 ft 8 in)
Draft: 5 m (16 ft 5 in)
Propulsion:
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h) on diesel only, 26 kn (48 km/h) max.
Range: 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km)
Boats & landing
craft carried:
  • Submarine ROVs
  • 4 × 11 m (36 ft 1 in) RHIB, capable of more than 40 kn (74 km/h)
Capacity: Space for two 6.1 m (20 ft 0 in) containers
Complement: 190 (standard crew: 110)
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • 1 × Cassidian TRS-4D AESA radar
  • 2(?) × navigation radars
  • IFF
  • diver and swimmer detection sonar (no anti-submarine sonar)
  • Laser warning
  • KORA-18 Combined RADAR and COMMS ESM from GEDIS
  • Link 11, Link 16, Link 22 communications systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 2 × NH-90 helicopters

F125 is the project name for the Type 125 Baden-Württemberg class of frigates, currently in development for the German Navy by ARGE F125, a joint-venture of Thyssen-Krupp and Lürssen. The F125-class are officially classified as frigates but in size they are comparable to destroyers, since, with a displacement of more than 7,200 tons, they will be the biggest class of frigate worldwide. They are to replace the Bremen class.[1][2]

Design

Background

In contrast to the Bremen class, which were built with Cold War-era scenarios in mind, the F125 will have much enhanced land-attack capabilities. This will better suit the frigates in possible future peacekeeping and peacemaking missions. For such reasons, the F125 will also mount non-lethal weapons.

General characteristics

Major design goals are reduced radar, infrared and acoustic signatures (stealth technology), something that was introduced to the German Navy with the Brandenburg-class frigate and was further developed with the Sachsen-class frigate and Braunschweig-class corvette.

Other important requirements are long maintenance periods: It should be possible to deploy F125 class frigates for up to two years away from homeports with an average sea operation time of more than 5,000 hours per year (that's nearly 60%) which includes operation under tropical conditions. For this reason, a combined diesel-electric and gas arrangement has been chosen for the machinery. This allows the substitution of large and powerful diesel engines for propulsion and sets of smaller diesel generators for electric power generation with a pool of med-sized diesel generators, reducing the number of different engines.

To enhance survivability of the frigates, important systems are laid out in the two island principle, i.e. present at least twice at different places within the ship. This is also visible in the superstructures, which are split in two larger pyramidal deckhouses. The aerials of the Cassidian TRS-4D Active electronically scanned array radar will be distributed over the two pyramids. This will ensure that the ship remains operational in case of severe damage, such as accidents or enemy action. It will also allow F125 frigates to keep station if needed when something breaks down and no replacement is available. An initial batch of four frigates was ordered by the German Navy on 26 June 2007. The initial batch of four ships costs around 2.2 billion Euros. In April 2007, a contract with Finmeccanica was signed for delivery of Otobreda 127 mm Vulcano main guns as well as remote-controlled light gun turrets for the F125.[3] The initially considered 155mm MONARC gun, as well as the naval GMLRS rocket launcher, were dropped due to problems with the navalization of these land-based systems. The deal with Oto Melara had become opportune, because Germany still had counter trade obligations towards Italy, as Italy had purchased two German U212A class submarines. The F125 vessels are equipped with ten guns for defence against air and surface targets. The vessels are also armed with non-lethal weapons, such as water cannons and searchlights for non-provocative deterrence and defence.

Ships in the class

Pennant number Name[4] Call sign Shipyard Laid down Launched[5] Delivered[5] Commissioned
F222 Baden-Württemberg ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems 2 November 2011[6] 31 March 2014[7] planned for 30 November 2016 [7] 2017
F223 Nordrhein-Westfalen Lürssen 24 October 2012[8] 9 April 2015[9] planned for 15 October 2017
F224 Sachsen-Anhalt ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems 4 June 2014[10] 4 March 2016[11] planned for Spring 2019
F225 Rheinland-Pfalz Lürssen 29 January 2015[12] planned for February 2016 planned for 18 August 2019

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Making Do With Less
  2. ↑ "First of TKMS built F-125 class Frigate "Baden-Württemberg" Christened for the German Navy". December 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ "FInmeccanica wins 80 mln eur German frigate orders". abcmoney.co.uk.
  4. ↑ "Neue Fregatte der Marine mit traditionsreichem Namen" (in German). Presse- und Informationszentrum Marine. 2011-12-20. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  5. 1 2 (in German)European Security and Defence (Mittler Report Verlag) (1/2011), online bei docstoc
  6. ↑ "Fregatte Baden-Württemberg - Kiellegung für einen Meilenstein" (in German). Presse- und Informationszentrum Marine. 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
  7. 1 2 newsletter-verteidigung.de: NV Ausgabe 01/2014, accesssed 25 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Kiellegung der zweiten Fregatte Klasse 125 in Lemwerder" (in German). MarineForum. 2012-12-20. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Marcel Schaffhausen (2014-06-05). "Neue Fregatte "Sachsen-Anhalt" auf Kiel gelegt". www.marine.de (in German). Bundeswehr. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
  11. ↑ "Fregatte „Sachsen-Anhalt“ für die Deutsche Marine in Hamburg getauft". ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Presse- und Informationszentrum Marine (2015-01-29). "Letzte Kiellegung der Fregattenklasse F 125" (in German). Bundeswehr. Retrieved 2015-01-29.

External links

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