Type 127 Next Generation Frigate
When the three "Sachsen" class air defense ships are retired in the mid-2030s, the Navy will need a replacement for maritime air defense. This gap is to be filled by six Class 127 frigates, which are to be delivered from 2032. The F127 will then not only protect an area or a task force against all threats from the air, but will also probably contribute to territorial missile defense as part of national defense and to defense against ballistic missiles as part of alliance defense. This makes it of utmost importance for fulfilling NATO's requirements for Germany. The military significance of the F127 project is that the current Type F124 Sachsen-class ships will reach the end of their service lifetime in the next few years. Extending the utilization period of the three “Sachsen class” currently in service makes neither military nor economic sense. It will become the backbone of the German Navy's fleet, equipped with regional air defense and anti-ballistic missile capabilities. The F127, which focuses on air defense, has not been optimized for silent performance and anti-submarine equipment (only towed array sonar and no fixed bow sonar). Since the F127's mission is very similar to that of the U.S. Navy's current Burke-class missile destroyers, the F127's initial concept ship size is also similar to the Burke-class, but the number of people on the ship is only about half of the Burke-class. It is large because of improved crew accommodation, larger passageways, systems redundancy and modular mission spaces.
According to the preliminary plan, the German Navy estimates that it will need to build six F127s, instead of only three F124s. This is a specific commitment by Germany to strengthen its military capabilities in the future and make more contributions to NATO in strategic defense. The first F127 was originally expected to enter service in 2032, but this schedule may be delayed by several years. The construction of the first F127 is expected to start no earlier than 2026, becoming the backbone of the German naval fleet in the mid-21st century, and serving until the mid-2070s (about 35 years). The F127 frigate proposal exhibited by TKMS around July 2023 is based on the group's MEKO A400, which indicates that it has made many modifications compared to the earlier version and is closer to the MEKO A300 launched in 2021. In July 2024, TKMS officially called the new version of MEKO A400 for F127 needs MEKO A400 AMD. The MEKO A-400 AMD design has a displacement of 10,000 tons. The hull length is 160 m with a beam of 21 m and a draft of 5.5 m. These figures represent a very notable size increase over the company’s existing F125 design, promoted for export as MEKO A 400. Propulsion is not specified but appears to feature two gas turbines and two diesel engines. This arrangement allows a top speed of 32 knots. The range is 4,000 nautical miles with an endurance of more than 30 days. AEGIS is the specified combat management system. A-400 AMD features four large AESA panels resembling Raytheon’s AN/SPY-6, in addition to smaller panels for a possible X-band AESA. Selection of AN/SPY-6 by TKMS stands in contrast to Lockheed Martin’s AN/SPY-7. The Lockheed Martin-developed radar is used by the Spanish F110-frigate. Canada also selected the system for their new “River”-class destroyer, known as the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC). It is equipped with an OTO 127mm 64-caliber naval gun forward, medium calibre autocannons amidships and remote controlled machine guns forward and aft. The design includes notable innovations such as two laser weapons forward and aft. The turrets resemble Rheinmetall’s DEW prototype for close range air defence. The ship also features an “inverted bow”-design similar to the American Zumwalt-class destroyer. The ship is equipped with 64 American-made MK-41 vertical launchers (32 tubes at the bow and another 32 tubes in the middle of the hull). The ship also carries two quadruple box launchers for eight rounds of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), the new standard frigate ASuW armament of the German Navy. Up to four quadruple anti-ship missile launchers can be installed in the middle of the hull. This space can also be loaded with container modules. There is one at the front and one at the back. The MK-49 is equipped with two 21 round RAM anti-aircraft missile launchers ahead of the bridge and on the hangar, which accommodates two helicopters., and is equipped with remote-controlled weapon stations on both sides of the hull. In order to maximize mission flexibility and meet various possible needs in the future, the system architecture of the F127 frigate needs to be modularized; for example, modularized mission equipment carrying capabilities are used to accommodate various future network-based operations. Unmanned aerial, surface, underwater vehicles, etc. To this end, MTG Marinetechnik developed the concept of "flex areas" during the conceptual design stage of the F127 frigate, setting up two multi-purpose flexible mission spaces on the ship (the hangar structure and the stern area). , according to different mission requirements, flexibly combines various related resources, modules, and equipment, and deploys them in a flexible hangar (flex hangar) or a flexible tail cabin (flex stern). Frigate Captain Andreas Uhl, authorized representative of F127 in the Rostock Naval Command in the Planning Department, described the plans to date in the January 2020 issue of the "MarineForum" journal of the German Naval Officer Association (MOV). The German Navy had begun planning a new generation of anti-aircraft frigates to replace those that have been in service since 2004 and will be deployed in the 2030s. The F124 Sachsen class missile frigate, which has reached the age of 30, performs maritime area air defense and meets the defense tasks assigned to Germany by NATO; Germany calls this project a next-generation frigate, and its code name should be F127. Equipped with extensive tactical sensors and vertical launch systems for defensive missiles against threats from the air, the F127 can accommodate up to two on-board helicopters, small and medium-sized unmanned drones, operational boats and unmanned surface and underwater vehicles. The ship's space is to be designed to be flexible and modular for this purpose. From a technical point of view, special attention is being paid to ensuring that the frigate can carry out its tasks of situational awareness, threat analysis and operational planning at the multinational unit level in a fully automated manner, but at the same time is also capable of effective use of weapons if all satellite and internet connections fail. To ensure that the waiting time for this new generation of naval warfare assets is not too long, the capabilities and complexity of the frigates will be gradually increased as they are delivered. In this way, ships ready for use will be available early on, explains Frigate Captain Uhl. While ship 1 will enter service as a pure anti-aircraft ship, acceptance and operational testing of this initial capability level will take place on ship 2. An initial capability for defense against ballistic missiles will be implemented on ship 3, and further capabilities such as lasers and operational modules will be integrated via ships 4 and 5. "In order to be able to make the decision to equip the particularly complex (in terms of cost and risk) final capability level 'BMD Upper Layer', an exo-atmospheric missile defense capability, as late as possible, this capability level was deliberately placed on the sixth ship," said the Frigate Captain. The upgrade of the first units to the higher capability levels is to be carried out during routine maintenance. In February 2020, the Federal Republic of Germany's Ministry of Defense approved the F127 development project outline, and the F127 project team was established at the end of the third quarter of 2020 to study the ship's combat deployment and use plan. On December 17, 2020, Germany and the Netherlands signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to consider cooperating in the development of a new generation of air defense frigates to replace their respective F124 Saxony-class frigates and LCF Seven Provinces (De Zeven Provinciën). class) air defense frigate. In mid-January 2020, the Dutch Damen Group was selected by the German Ministry of Defense as the main contractor for the German Navy's MSK180 multi-mission combat ship (later renamed F126 frigate). The two parties continue to maintain a close cooperative relationship in naval development. By early 2023, Germany and the Netherlands had "cooled" a lot about jointly developing a new generation of air defense ships: for example, at this time, Germany has clearly favored the introduction of the US-made Aegis combat system, but the Netherlands still hoped to adopt its own system developed by Thales's Dutch division. In March 2023, the German Parliament raised some questions about the joint development of air defense frigates between the two countries. Thomas Hitschler, the Federal Secretary of State for Defense Affairs, responded that Germany would still seek cooperation with the Netherlands to the greatest extent. On March 8, 2023, German media reported that the German TKMS Group proposed a preliminary concept for the German Navy F127 (possibly based on the MEKO A300 modular large-scale air defense frigate developed by TKMS). According to the concept of TKMS, this design has a displacement of 12,000 tons, a hull length of 220m, a manpower of 250, and may use the US-made Aegis combat system. By early September 2024, news came out that the F127 had a conceptual length of about 160m and a displacement of 10,000 tons, which was slightly lower than the previous year's figures. The German Navy's plan to order six multi-purpose frigates was moving forward by October 2023 with yards positioning to win the contract, although a tender has not yet been issued. The type F127 frigates should be delivered by 2035 at the latest. The second phase of the project is now underway. This phase is called Customer Product Management (CPM), with the aim of producing one or several proposed design solutions during 2024. It was still unclear when a construction tender will be issued and whether the project will be undertaken in cooperation with the Netherlands. The German yard Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) was set to bid hard for the contract and will offer the Government the extra benefit that hundreds of new jobs could be created in its yard in Wismar, in an area of high unemployment in East Germany. But Dutch yard group Damen was also likely to bid, and Damen was building an earlier series of frigates for Germany. Most recently, TKMS intensively promoted its market-ready MEKO A-400 Air & Missile Defence (AMD) frigate design for the contract.
At SMM 2024, the leading major trade fair for the maritime industry, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and NVL announced 06 September 2024 the planned establishment of a joint venture and signed a cooperation agreement. The aim of the cooperation is to jointly realize the construction of the MEKO A-400 AMD – a pioneering ship concept from thyssenkrupp Marine Systems that was specially developed to meet the requirements of a German Navy air defense frigate.
The cooperation agreement was signed by Oliver Burkhard, CEO of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, and Friedrich Lürssen, shareholder of the NVL Group. As the principal shareholder in the joint venture, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems will play a leading role in the development and production of the Type F127 with its MEKO A-400 design, while NVL will contribute its extensive manufacturing capabilities and many years of experience in the construction of naval vessels to the cooperation. The exact structure of the work packages will be determined at a later stage. The cooperation will generate considerable synergies and make a significant contribution to strengthening and securing key national technologies in the field of naval shipbuilding. The planned cooperation was approved by the Federal Cartel Office on 02 September 2024.
“We have already made considerable investments in the development of the MEKO A-400 technology and in the expansion of construction capacities at the Wismar site. Now it is up to the politicians to successfully drive forward the project for the successor to the F124 and provide it with the necessary funding. With the signing of this contract, we are setting an important milestone for the construction and operational readiness of a completely new type of frigate,” explained Oliver Burkhard during the signing ceremony. He added: “The sole purpose of establishing this joint venture is to implement the future frigate program. This is all because commissioning the construction of the new F127 is urgently required in terms of security policy. The serious geopolitical situation demands the fastest possible realization and closing of a capability gap. The F127 must not be put on the back burner!”
Friedrich Lürssen emphasized: “The new air defense frigate is a key project for surface vessel shipbuilding in Germany. Through our cooperation, we are creating the industrial prerequisites for further technological development at a high level, sustainably strengthening our competitiveness in military surface vessel shipbuilding, and securing and expanding important industrial jobs at the shipyards and in the national supply industry.”
The MEKO A-400 AMD extends existing capability profiles with an improved energy supply for future weapon and command systems; in addition, the new type of hull offers more space for the installation of missiles and a higher cruising speed for multinational task forces. This means that the new frigate type can be equipped with a combination of novel defense missiles to combat threats from the air and engage several targets simultaneously at previously unreachable distances using long-range missiles. At the same time, the frigate can also be used against sea and land targets as well as for submarine hunting. Equipping the ship with systems that meet NATO requirements will also ensure integration and cooperation in NATO’s transatlantic strategy with this ship design.
The joint venture will be based in Hamburg and will act as the project company for the construction of the future F127 frigates. thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and NVL are thus creating the fundamental conditions for construction of the new frigate to begin as early as 2025. As things stand at present, the ships will be built by thyssenkrupp Marine Systems in Wismar and by NVL in Hamburg and Wolgast, among other sites. The German Navy wants the first ship to be ready for deployment in 2034; the prerequisite for this goal is that orders are received promptly. “As project partners, we are joining forces to rapidly close the looming capability gap in sea-based air defense, to secure the future of the key technology of naval shipbuilding in Germany and to equip the German Navy with state-of-the-art equipment,” said the two company leaders.
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