On June 17, 2020, the German Parliament has approved the acquisition of four MKS 180 frigates that will be built by the Dutch shipbuilder Damen. This contract will be the largest naval contract for the companies Damen and Thales with an estimated amount of £5.473 billion.
In April 2019, the German’s Ministry of Defense has launched a tender for the acquisition of four MKS 180 frigates. According to Dutch Damen shipbuilder, the ships will be built at Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg and at other shipyard locations of the North German Lürssen Group. Damen intends to build in this way in order to spend around 80% of the total net investment as added value in Germany. The same applies to the electronic application systems that are supplied by Thales Nederland to its own design. Around 70% of the services will be provided by the German subsidiary of Thales and by other German subcontractors.
According to Naval military experts, the MKS 180 is designed to be used as a multi-purpose combat ship with interchangeable mission-specific modules that can be configured to perform a wide range of naval missions.
The MKS 180 frigate will have a length of 155 meters with a displacement of up to 9,000 tons. With a standard crew of 110 sailors and up to 70 additional crew members, it will be the largest combat ship in service with the Germany Navy.
The MKS 180 frigate will be armed with medium and short air defense missile systems, long-range anti-ship missiles. It will have a 127 mm main gun able to fire extended-range ammunition as well as automatic cannons and machine gun for its self-protection.
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