German Navy’s new F 125 frigates

In the first Newsletter of the year, the German Navy has revealed technical details and the construction progress of the four F 125-Class frigates which are to replace the eight Bremen-Class frigates currently in service of the German Navy.

So far, the first ship, Baden-Württemberg (F 222) has been launched and is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2017. The Nordrhein-Westfalen (F 223) which was launched in April, 2015 is currently being outfitted in Hamburg, Germany.

The third ship in the class, the Sachsen-Anhalt (F 224), will be launched in March 2016 while the last ship, the Rheinland-Pfalz (F 225), is yet to be put together. The ship’s stern, which is currently in Hamburg, and the forecastle, currently in Volgast, Germany are scheduled to be put together in 2016.

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.

According to the German Navy, the new frigates will require only half the crew necessary to operate the Bremen-Class frigates. The new frigates will be able to stay at sea for up to 24 months and thereby reduce the transit times for the crews. The crews will swap in regular intervals directly in the areas of operations which means that the ships will have to make fewer port visits.

The navy has also developed an alternative crewing model for the F 122 frigates. Namely, the four ships will be operated by eight crews and the deployment duration for any of the crews should not exceed four months. The crews will count approximately 120 persons.

New sensor-weapon concepts are prepared for the enhanced flexibility and scalable control-options of the frigates. The Navy said that almost all weapons on board would be remotely controlled. Passive protection will also be enhanced by automatized surveillance systems.

These ships will be the first ones to run the so-called CODLAG propulsion system. The system essentially consists of electric motors which will draw power from diesel generators. The new ships will carry four deployable boats and have two container spots on the middle deck.

Weaponry will consist of HARPOON and RAM missiles, one 127 mm machine gun, two 27 mm and five 12.7 mm guns. The 150-meter ship will have a complement capacity of 190 persons and a maximum speed of 26 knots.

Image: German Navy