BERLIN: The German Navy has christened its second F 125 frigate, the next phase in a number of key recent developments in the frigate programme.
Nordrhein-Westfalen (F 223) was christened by TKMS on 16 April at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg.
In June 2007 under a EUR2 billion (USD2.25 billion) contract, Germany ordered four F 125 frigates from the ARGE F 125 industry consortium, consisting of TKMS and Lürssen Werft Shipyard. Under TKMS leadership on the programme, Lürssen is responsible for constructing and fitting out the fore sections of each ship; these sections have been built at Lürssen’s Bremen and Wolgast yards. Rear section construction and outfitting, along with whole-ship assembly, is carried out for TKMS at Blohm + Voss.
The F 125 has been designed to support national and alliance interests, but also to support crisis prevention, crisis response, and intervention and stabilisation operations. In particular, the frigates are designed for greater endurance, including being able to deploy away from home port for up to 24 months. This improved availability in areas of operations is enhanced by a two-crew concept (‘Alpha’ and ‘Bravo’ crews), with options for crew rotation on station to reduce requirements for long transits.
