Frigates

The reference list of our innovative and capable fighting ships delivered to 16 navies worldwide (including 6 NATO nations) encompasses the superb Class 123, 124, 125 Frigates and Class 130 Corvette for the German Navy, as well as the large fleet of MEKO® technology corvettes and frigates for navies across the globe.

Impressive track records, innovative products and a service portfolio backed by the German parent navy are strong proof of our ability to create the optimum naval asset in providing customized, competitive solutions based on client requirements.

Fighting toughness at sea – warships from Marine Systems. What characterizes our warships:

Built to last
Designed for lives exceeding 35 years.

Intensive use
Designed for extended operations of up to two years away from home base, effectively doubling operationalavailability on distant stations.

Sea-keeping
Designed for sustained rough weather blue water operations.

Helicopter operations
Designed for 24/7 helicopter operations in high seas and all weather and visibility conditions.

Endurance and Mobility
Long range and staying power for sustained world-wide operations.

Survivability
Structural and material toughness, redundancy and German damage control standards for fighting resilience to keep floating, moving and fighting after damage.

Stealth
Superior and holistic radar, infra-red, acoustic and magnetic signatures.

Innovative propulsion
Reliable and economic propulsion with diesel, diesel-electric and gas turbine power combinations and FPP, CCP and waterjet propulsors. Our propulsion arrangements include CODAD, CODOG, CODAG, CODAGWARP, CODLAG, CODLOD and CODLAD.

MEKO^® build and configuration modularity
Facilitates building in customer countries and gives the customer the flexibility and choice of the scope and make of combat systems.

MEKO Flex^® mission modularity
Incorporating MEKO Flex^® decks and Flex^® spaces, for the fitment of mission modules that provide flexible force multiplication and role configurations, including modular offboard assets (special boats/UAVs/USVs/ UUVs) and modular onboard sensors and effectors.

Our Surface Vessels product portfolio:

Class F125 Frigate

The Class 125 Frigate has been especially designed for the requirements of modern conflict situations, and in particular sustained, distant and intensive-use littoral operations far from home port. The ship has enhanced Command and Control, boat, helicopter and shore bombardment capabilities for the support of Special Forces amphibious operations, including Task Force command.

In particular, four large fast special boats, two large organic helicopters and two 20ft mission containers are embarked to support the 50 embarked Special Forces. Incorporating all of the tough survivability features of its famous Class 123 and Class 124 Frigate predecessors from Marine Systems, the Class 125 Frigate goes a step further in combat survivability, introducing the ‘two islands’ concept, whereby critical C3I, sensors and effectors are split between separated superstructure ‘islands’ forward and aft, allowing the ship to continue to fight even after taking severe damage.

A world-first in warship logistic concepts, the Class 125 Frigate design and logistics engineering has been specially tailored for “intensive use”, whereby the ship can remain on station in a distant theater of operations for up to two years without base or dockyard support. The availability of the ship also sets a new world-standard: some 5,000 sea hours per year, with a docking/shipyard refit only required every 5 years.

On station, the ship has palletized cargo routes for efficient replenishment and rapid operational embarkation and disembarkation. Supporting the intensive-use concept, the ship has two crews, each of 120 personnel, designed on the principles of lean manning and a high degree of automation to fully operate the ship. In this “dual crew” concept, each 120-strong crew is rotated at four-month intervals while the ship remains in-theater, one crew onboard, the other in a period of shore training and at home base. The ship has a designed accommodation for 190, this being the core crew plus 70 supernumerary berths for up to 50 Special Forces/CTG staff and an embarked helicopter contingent of 20.

The ship’s innovative CODLAG propulsion arrangement allows for highly efficient, economic, quiet and low-wear steaming on diesel-electric propulsion up to 20 knots, supplemented by an instant sprint capability available by adding the power of the gas turbine for a speed of >26 knots within minutes.

This is the perfect combination for the efficient propulsion needs of the modern naval scenarios, across the speed range required for the ships’ missions and tasks, from low speed loitering to high speed combat sprinting. The Class 125 Frigate includes a comprehensive suite of state-of the-art C³ systems, sensors and both hard- and soft-kill effectors.

Of particular note is the comprehensive fit of an asymmetric warfare system of electro-optic sensors and remotely operated guns providing continual all-round close range detection, tracking and kill engagement against asymmetric threats.

MEKO® A-200 Frigate

Workhorses of the sea, the MEKO^® A-200 Frigate, follows the famous MEKO^® 200 series general purpose frigates from the thyssenkrupp stable. A fighting ship capable of full 4-dimensional warfare (AAW, ASW and ASuW, BCW), the MEKO^® A-200 Frigate is also designed for sustained operations across the full spectrum of general missions and tasks: patrol and interdiction, support of special force operations, SAR and humanitarian operations.

The MEKO^® A-200 Frigate is a perfect example of the innovative propulsion, stealth and survivability design, robust sea-keeping and all-weather boat and helicopter operability that characterizes frigates from Marine Systems.

Propulsion
The MEKO^® A-200 Frigate features the revolutionary CODAG-WARP (Water jet and Refined Propellers) propulsion system: two CPP propeller shafts driven by cross-connectable diesel engines plus a center-line gas turbine-driven water jet, combining the power of each drive in the water without the need of a combining gearbox. This arrangement allows for extremely quiet acoustic signatures, a high degree of propulsion redundancy and damage survivability.

The propulsion arrangement also provides, in the diesel-only mode, an extremely economic solution, whereby one engine can drive both shafts for a ship’s speed of 18 knots. This means that the ship will spend most of its life on a single diesel engine, bringing a significant reduction in through-life propulsion costs.

MEKO^® Modularity in operation
Perfectly illustrating MEKO^® Configuration Modularity, the two sub-classes of the A-200 (A-200 SAN pictured opposite, and A-200 AN shown below) have nearly identical ship platforms, but very different combat systems from different suppliers, according to the choices selected by the User Navies in terms of the flexible choice allowed customers by the MEKO^® technology.

Sea-keeping and mobility
The MEKO^® A-200 Frigate has outstanding sea-keeping and tactical mobility. The fast mono-hull features a forefoot skeg for greatly reduced yawing and directional stability in a seaway. The >16 m beam and active fin stabilizers provide platform stability such that safe helicopter and boat operations can be conducted in sea state 6. A covered fo’c’sle and high freeboard provide for additional buoyancy and reduced deck wettnesses and slamming, allowing high speed transit in heavy seas.

With a tactical diameter of less than four ship lengths and a stopping distance from full speed using the reversing water jet (crash-stop manoeuvre) of less that two ship lengths, the MEKO^® A-200 Frigate outperforms all frigates in the same tonnage class.

Stealth - the art of invisibility
The MEKO^® A-200 Frigate has greatly reduced radar, IR, acoustic and magnetic signatures to hide and stay hidden: The X-Form^® shell design; extensive bulwark screening of exposed equipment; flush-closing shell doors and RCSnet screening of all shell openings, give the vessel very low radar cross section.

Without a funnel, and with all combustion engines exhaust horizontally on or below the waterline with active cooling, plus a shell cooling system, this ship has exceptionally low IR signatures. The small, light propellers and the aft-sighting of propulsion machinery allowed by CODAG-WARP combined with a forefoot skeg make for exceptionally quiet signatures. The ship is fitted with a highly efficient active tri-axial degaussing system to reduce its magnetic signature.