Only a few months after the construction of the largest shipbuilding project in the history of the German Navy the ceremonial keel laying of the first of four commissioned Class 126 (F126) frigates took place on June 3 – in the presence of Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and other guests of honor. The keel of the first ship will be laid in mid-2028 for the German Navy (-> current news about the Bundeswehr) is to be handed over. The other three frigates are to follow by 2032.
“Around six months ago, the construction phase of the Bundeswehr’s largest ship project began at this location. With today’s keel laying ceremony, we are not only symbolically celebrating a milestone on the way to our new frigate class,” said Minister Pistorius during the festive ceremony. The frigate 126 is a unique ship with outstanding technological capabilities. For him, it stands for three things: for the turn of an era, for Germany’s commitment to the international order and for German competitiveness, Pistorius continued.
The keel-laying ceremony is a traditional milestone in shipping. Minister Pistorius, along with the other guests of honor, nailed a coin to a wooden board himself, which was then hammered onto the “Pallung” – an area on the keel block beam – of the future frigate “Niedersachsen” by the shipbuilders. The four F126 frigates are being produced at different shipyards. The aft ship, for example, is being built at the Peene shipyard in Wolgast. German Naval Yards Kiel GmbH is building the forecastle and Blohm+Voss Hamburg is integrating sensors and effectors, for example, and carrying out the final assembly of the F126. The F126 frigates have a length of 167 meters, a width of around 21 meters and a displacement (and therefore weight) of around 10,000 tons. With a crew of 125, the ships will be capable of three-dimensional (air, surface and underwater) naval warfare for worldwide operations across the entire intensity spectrum. The most important tasks include maritime surveillance, enforcing embargoes, supporting special forces and evacuation operations. The ships can also be equipped with special mission modules, allowing the standardized equipment and personnel packages to be adapted for specific missions.
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