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German Navy Commissions Second F125 Baden-Württemberg-Class Frigate Nordrhein-Westfalen - DefPost
June 11, 2020
Arun Mathew
German Navy commissioned its second F125 Baden-Württemberg-class frigate FGS Nordrhein-Westfalen (F223) during a ceremony on June 10.
The ceremony took place on a small scale due to the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The frigate FGS Nordrhein-Westfalen is the second of four F125 Baden-Württemberg-class vessels being built for the German Navy by the ARGE F125 consortium, formed between thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and Bremen-based Fr. Lürssen shipyard.
The pre-fitted bow sections of the vessel were produced at the shipyards of the Lürssen Group in Bremen and in Wolgast on the Baltic Sea. Construction of the stern sections, the joining of the two vessel halves, further fitting-out, commissioning and testing all took place at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg under the direction of thyssenkrupp.
The vessel was delivered to the German procurement agency BAAINBw during an acceptance ceremony which took place at the naval base in Wilhelmshaven on March 3.
The F125-class are officially classified as frigates but in size, they are comparable to destroyers. With a displacement of more than 7,200 tons, they will be the biggest class of frigate worldwide. The vessels will replace the German Navy’s older F122 Bremen-class frigates.
The contract for the construction of the four frigates entered into force in June 2007. This was followed by the concept, design and detailed construction phase. Around 90 percent of the highly complex systems on board the F125 were newly developed specifically for this type of ship.
With their highly complex systems and around 28,000 sensors, the completely redesigned F125 class ships feature a very high degree of automation, making it possible to halve the crew size compared to previous frigate classes. The ships can remain in their operational area for up to two years. This will considerably reduce the number of otherwise very long transit journeys.
In addition to the traditional tasks of national and alliance defence, the ships are designed for conflict prevention and crisis management as well as for intervention and stabilization operations on an international scale. Alongside their capability to engage targets on land and water, they also have air defence systems and helicopters specially equipped for submarine hunting.
The lead ship of the F125 class, the FGS Baden-Wurttemberg (F222), was christened in December 2013, handed over to BAAINBw at the end of April 2019 and commissioned into service in June 2019. The third unit, FGS Sachsen-Anhalt (F224), is slated for delivery this year and the fourth, FGS Rheinland-Pfalz (F225), in 2021.
F125 Specs:
+ Length: 149 m
+ Width: 18 m
+ Maximum speed: >26 knots
+ Displacement: approx. 7,200 t
+ Crew: max. 190 (of which up to 120 regular crew members)
F125 Baden-Württemberg Class Frigate: Details
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