The second of a total of four 125 class frigates for the German Navy is to be christened “Nordrhein-Westfalen” today at the Hamburg site of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.
Following the christening of the first frigate “Baden-Württemberg” in December 2013 this is a further important milestone in the shipbuilding program for this frigate class. The frigate “Nordrhein-Westfalen” is scheduled to be handed over to the German defense procurement agency BAAINBw in mid-2018.
The contract for the four frigates is worth around two billion euros in total.
The four 125 class frigates will replace the German Navy’s eight 122 Bremen class frigates. The ships were developed specially for current and future mission scenarios. In addition to the traditional tasks of national and alliance defense, the 125 class frigates are designed for conflict prevention, crisis management, and international intervention and stabilization missions. The ships are capable of remaining at sea for 24 months and will be the first to implement the intensive use principle, i.e. significantly enhanced availability in the area of operation. This capability is supported by a reduced crew size and a two-crew strategy under which the crew can be swapped out on location.
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Image: ThyssenKrupp