Brandenburg class frigate

F218 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Class overview
Builders:	Blohm + Voss Howaldtswerke Nordseewerke Bremer Vulkan
Operators:	German Navy
Preceded by:	Hamburg class destroyer
Completed:	four
Active:	Brandenburg Schleswig-Holstein Bayern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
General characteristics
Displacement:	4,900 tonnes
Length:	138.9 metres (456 ft)
Beam:	16.7 metres (55 ft)
Draft:	6.8 metres (22 ft)
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 each two Renk BGS 178 Lo gearboxes
Speed:	29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range:	Over 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi)at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement:	200 sailors and 20 aircrewmen
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 LFASS towed array sonar to be fitted
Electronic warfare and 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:	Naval guns: One OTO-Melara 76 mm/62Mk-75 multi-purpose naval gun Two Rheinmetall Rh202 rapid-fire cannons to be replaced by Mauser BK-27 27 mm rapid-fire cannons Antiaircraft warfare: One Mk 41 Mod 3 vertical launch system for 16 Sea Sparrow antiaircraft missiles (ESSM planned) CIWS: Two x Mk 49 launcher for 21 x Rolling Airframe Missiles Antiship missiles: Four x MM38 Exocet antiship missiles (To be replaced by RBS 15 Mk. 3) Antisubmarine warfare: Four 324 mm torpedo tubes, Mk 46 torpedoes
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.

Images

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  F218 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

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  F215 Brandenburg

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  F217 Bayern

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  F216 Schleswig-Holstein in Hamburg Harbor

List of ships

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

All ships of the class were named after German Bundesländer and are based in Wilhelmshaven as 2. Fregattengeschwader (2nd Frigate Squadron) of the Deutsche Marine.

See also

• F125 class frigate Germany
• Sachsen class frigate Germany
• Hamburg class destroyer Germany
• MEKO 140
• MEKO 360
• MEKO A-200 Valour
• Halifax class frigate
• Anzac class frigate
• Formidable class frigate
• La Fayette class frigate

External links

• naval-technology.com