German Navy wants to rearm its 4 modern frigates in the face of the Russian threat

With 11 frigates, the German Navy is supposed to have today a high seas fleet sufficient to control, together with the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Norwegian Navy and the Royal Navy, the entire North Atlantic, in particular to contain the potential transit of Russian nuclear submarines leaving Murmansk.

However, today, this inventory is above all theoretical. Indeed, of the 11 frigates in service, only 3, the F124 Sachsen, prove to be real escorts. As for its four most modern and most imposing frigates, the F125 Baden-Württemberg class, they simply have no escort capacity, nor even self-defense in tension zones, being designed as imposing OPVs more heavily armed than traditional patrol boats.

Faced with this observation, and awaiting the arrival of the new F126 anti-submarine warfare aircraft from 2028, the Bundesmarine has undertaken to study the strengthening of the defensive capabilities, as well as the armaments, of the F125 Baden-Württemberg. However, the transformation will not be simple, and its effectiveness remains to be demonstrated.

The German Navy's Frigate Fleet Today: Obsolescence and Questionable Choices

The Bundesmarine, the German Navy, currently operates a surface combatant fleet consisting of 11 frigates, supported by five K130-class coastal defense corvettes. Braunschweig.

This fleet consists of four F123 class anti-submarine frigates Brandenburg, of three F124 class anti-aircraft frigates Saxony, and four F125 class frigates Baden-Württemberg, its most imposing and most recent ships.

4 F123 class anti-submarine frigates Brandenburg

Entering service from 1992 to 1996, the F123 anti-submarine frigates weigh 5000 tonnes when fully loaded, and carry weapons and equipment that are sometimes dated, such as the anti-aircraft self-protection system armed with 16 Sea Sparrow missiles implemented by two VLS Mk41s.

Although intended for ASW combat, three of the four frigates are devoid of variable depth towed sonar, relying only on the DSQS-23BZ hull sonar, which constitutes a considerable weakness for ASW combat beyond the oceanic plateau, or simply beyond 100 meters depth, where the thermocline most often begins.

The ships were modernized in 2021, to improve their combat system and radar detection capabilities. However, in the ASM domain, these frigates remain on the verge of obsolescence, while the Sea Sparrow missile, even supported by the two SeaRam CIWS, is not enough to make it a credible anti-aircraft escort.

3 F124 class anti-aircraft frigates Saxony

The three F124 Sachsen-class anti-aircraft frigates are undoubtedly the most effective surface combatant ships in the Bundesmarine today. In service from 2004 to 2006, these 5800-ton anti-aircraft escorts carry a powerful Thales SMART-L 3D radar, enabling the deployment of the 24 SM-2 Block IIIa medium-range surface-to-air missiles and the 32 ESSM short-range missiles, carried in the 4 VLS Mk41 systems, i.e. 32 silos.

There are 75% of this article left to read, Subscribe to access it!