| Brandenburg-class frigate | |
|---|---|
 F218 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | |
| Class overview | |
| Builders: |
Blohm + Voss Howaldtswerke Nordseewerke Bremer Vulkan |
| Operators: |
 German Navy |
| Preceded by: | Hamburg class destroyer |
| Built: | 1992–5 |
| In commission: | 1994– |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Active: |
Brandenburg Schleswig-Holstein Bayern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,600 tons (4,490t full load)[1] |
| Length: | 138.85 metres (455.5 ft)[1] |
| Beam: | 16.7 metres (55 ft)[1] |
| Draught: | 4.35 metres (14.3 ft) (6.3 metres (21 ft) over sonar)[1] |
| Propulsion: |
CODOG (combined diesel or gas) two propeller shafts, controllable pitch propellers two MTU 20V 956 TB92 diesel-engines, 8.14 MW each two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 38 MW total two Renk BGS 178 Lo gearboxes |
| Speed: | >29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)[1] |
| Range: | 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi)at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[1] |
| Complement: | 26 officers, 193 enlisted[1] |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
One Thales LW08 air search D band radar one Thales SMART-S air/surface surveillance F band radar two Thales STIR 180 fire-control radar two Raytheon Redpath I band navigation radar one STN Atlas DSQS-23BZ hull-mounted sonar one STN Atlas TASS 6-3 (LFTASS) towed array sonar (Bayern only) |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
1 EADS FL 1800S ECM suite two OTO-Melara SCLAR launcher four TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) decoy launcher (currently under procurement) |
| Armament: |
|
| Aircraft carried: | Two Sea Lynx helicopters equipped with ASW torpedoes, or air-to-surface missiles Sea Skua, and a heavy machine gun. |
The F123 Brandenburg class is a class of German frigate. They were ordered by the German Navy in June 1989, and then completed and commissioned between 1994 and 1996 to replace the Hamburg class destroyers. These frigates primarily carry out antisubmarine warfare, but they also contribute to antiaircraft warfare defenses, the tactical command of squadrons, and surface-to-surface warfare operations. Their design includes some stealth features.
Currently the F123 class is being upgraded under the auspices of the Fähigkeitsanpassung FüWES (FAF) project. The primary component being upgraded under this program is the Combat Management System, for which a version of the Thales Nederland TACTICOS system will be used. The ships will also receive an IFF upgrade, to the EADS MSSR 2000 I secondary radar system. However, its primary radars, specifically its long-range 2D search radar, the Thales Nederland LW08, and its medium-range 3D surveillance radar, the Thales Nederland SMART-S, are to remain. The ships were to receive low-frequency active sonars under the Franco-German LFTASS programme but the French withdrew in 2000[2] and are now using a derivative of the British Sonar 2087; Bayern received the prototype TASS 6-3 sonar but it seems unlikely that more units will be ordered in the current budget environment.
Images[]
List of ships[]
All ships of the class are named after German Bundesländer and are based in Wilhelmshaven as 2. Fregattengeschwader (2nd Frigate Squadron) of the Deutsche Marine.
| Pennant | Name | Call sign |
Laid down | Shipyard | Launched | Commissioned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F215 | Brandenburg | DRAH | February 11, 1992 | Blohm + Voss | August 28, 1992 | October 14, 1994 |
| F216 | Schleswig-Holstein | DRAI | July 1, 1993 | Howaldtswerke | June 8, 1994 | November 24, 1995 |
| F217 | Bayern | DRAJ | December 16, 1993 | Nordseewerke | June 30, 1994 | June 15, 1996 |
| F218 | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | DRAK | November 23, 1993 | Bremer Vulkan | February 23, 1995 | December 1, 1996 |
See also[]
- MEKO 140
- MEKO 360
- MEKO A-200 Valour
- Type 23 frigate
- Halifax class frigate
- Anzac class frigate
- Formidable class frigate
- La Fayette class frigate
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Wertheim, Eric (2007). The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems. Naval Institute Press. p. 246. ISBN 9781591149552. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TJunjRvplU4C&pg=PA246.
- ↑ "German LFTAS programme moves ahead". 13 December 2001. http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Navy-International-2002/German-LFTAS-programme-moves-ahead.html.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brandenburg class. |
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