German Navy

[kato]

Anyway, I came across some information in another forum that the estimated price tag for this project was 95m Euro (for two vessels). Just wondering if you have any further information (ie. length, draught, crew complement, speed, range etc.)? There doesn't appear to be anything on the Fassmer website as yet. As you say, they look very similar to the Type 748 Schwedeneck class. I presume the propulsion is diesel-electric (judging by the pods), and that there is no sonar / echo-sounder fitted.

The two SVK ships will get a ELAC PILOS 2.0 passive sonar (appropriate to its taskset) and ELAC UT 3000 2G underwater communications systems, both from company ELAC Sonar. Subcontract was announced this week, worth 4 million Euro.

Also with WTD71:

two new STS "Security, Transport and Tug" boats (20m length) for 13 million Euro (tender started in 2019)

The contract for the two STS boats went to Tamsen Maritim acting as a general contractor, and started construction at subcontractor SET in February this year. The two boats are planned to be delivered November 2022 and March 2023 respectively. SET and Tamsen Maritim are small east-german shipyards that also build patrol boats of similar size for the coastguard.



The STS boats are rather conventional small tugs with a work deck with a crane. The overall design and the dimensions in particular, while pretty generic, virtually match the Fassmer BL20 small buoy tender series (Tamsen is sorta run by former Fassmer employees...). The boats are intended to be used to tow other ships or barges and provide a patrol asset during trials, as well as salvaging underwater materials and deploying divers.

 

[kato]

According to North German Radio NDR the Bundeswehr is interested in buying the MV Werften shipyard at Rostock. Supposedly there have been talks between chancellor Scholz and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's minister-president Schwesig in that regard, which both the state government and the ministry of defense "do not comment on".

The shipyard is located on the west side of the Breitling small bodden sea, with Naval Base Rostock ("Hohe Düne") and the small Coastguard Base Rostock on the north of the bodden and Rostock harbour on its south side. Next to the MV Werften shipyard is the Meyer-Neptun Rostock shipyard and a former Caterpillar diesel engine factory that was closed last September.

The main benefit of the shipyard to the navy as a possible additional arsenal would be having a large drydock (320x54m) available immediately - the one they're building at Wilhelmshaven Navy Arsenal of similar size won't be finished for a while.

MV Werften formally declared bankruptcy January 10th this year. Genting before that was apparently trying to leverage the 75% finished Global Dream as a 60 million Euro security for further state subsidies, which the federal government denied. For MV's second shipyard at Wismar TKMS seems to be interested in order to increase their capacity and skilled workpower - supposedly they've already headhunted 120 engineers of MV since January.

 

[kato]

For MV's second shipyard at Wismar TKMS seems to be interested in order to increase their capacity and skilled workpower - supposedly they've already headhunted 120 engineers of MV since January.

Neptun Ship Design, the design office of MV Werften at Rostock, was snatched up jointly by Fassmer and Meyer Group. The company under Genting primarily designed special applications ships for the Chinese market.

 

[kato]

c) The ship also trained naval gunfire support, firing 150 rounds of 76mm against shore targets, with gunfire directed by spotters provided by the army (413th Infantry Battalion) and navy (Sea Battalion).

During Cold Response 2022 German corvette F262 Erfurt performed similar Naval Gunfire missions. In order to provide training for allies the German-Dutch infantry combat group had four US artillery spotters attached who directed fire.

 

[kato]

The sixth K130 corvette was christened "Köln" today:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1517114948362584064

The ship is still in final outfitting. First sea trials are planned for June, commissioning in the Navy for next year.


Previous "Köln"-named ships in German Navies were the 1984 frigate Köln (F122 class, scrapped 2016), the 1961 frigate Köln (F120 class), the 1930 light cruiser Köln (Königsberg class, scrapped 1956 to reopen Navy Arsenal Wilhelmshaven for the then newly instated Bundeswehr - where her wreck was sitting since 1945), the 1918 small cruiser Cöln (Cöln class, scuttled at Scapa Flow) and the 1909 small cruiser Cöln (Kolberg class, sunk by the RN in the North Sea 1914).

The 1961 frigate is still in service with the Bundeswehr, as the training hulk "ex-Köln" at the navy damage control training center Neustadt since 1989. The ship is extensively modified with internal structures remodeled to create areas resembling other ships in service (incl. F125 frigates), goes into regular maintenance like any other navy ship and serves for training shipboard firefighting and fighting leaks.

 

[76mmGuns]

When people in the RAN thread go on about upgunning Arafura class OPV's the result is something like the K130. If the RAN wanted a corvette, they would have ordered corvettes.

 

[ngatimozart]

When people in the RAN thread go on about upgunning Arafura class OPV's the result is something like the K130. If the RAN wanted a corvette, they would have ordered corvettes.

What has this to do with the German Navy?

 

[kato]

Inspector Admiral Kaack issued a "groundwork document" on April 15th in which he outlines what his focus points in his new office are for the next year.

The document called "Absicht 2022" (Intent 2022) is publicly available in German: Inspekteur der Marine: Absicht 2022
It's not exactly much, but hey, CONOPS at least to some extent.

quick translation of salient content by me, with one highlight:

[...]
It is my intent to reorient the German Navy for national and allied defense consequently. We shall be laying the groundwork for that this year. [...] In particular i want quick, tangible results that noticably affect our men and women at sea, on land and in the air.
[...]
One focus point of my efforts this year shall be increasing the readiness and combat strength of the Navy. [...] To reach this we will, oriented to the demand of the fleet ("Frontline First!") - reevaluate our current solutions and processes in all fields - maintenance, operational tempo, personnel and training - and act where we can quickly reach effective improvements.
The ability to reliably conduct our military trade under all circumstances will in particular require running through a regulated, realistic combat training that results in a "combat ready" certification as precondition for deployment. The commander moreover intends to give sufficient room to maintain this level during deployments.
The readiness of the fleet will be evaluated casually (SNAPEX).
For improvement of basic tactical knowledge and regaining a common operational understanding i intend to raise a "Education group Naval Tactics" at the Navy Operations School.
[...]
Primary area of operations of the German Fleet is the Northern Flank with the adjacent important sea routes across the Atlantic. We will prepare for this in equipment, training, command and exercise participation. The reinforcement of NATO Standing Forces, the participation in high-value exercises and in the protection of carrier battle groups is in our interest. [...] Due to our particular regional expertise we shall take responsibility for advising, coordination and command in the Baltic Sea and adjacent maritime areas ("Regional Maritime Domain Advisor - ready to command if required") and stand ready for others to lean on. The Baltic Sea cooperation in the framework of the "Baltic Commanders' Conference" shall be expanded and intensified for this purpose.
[...]
A rapid command capability of the "Maritime Operations Centre" Rostock is essential. Moreover DEUMARFOR shall strive for certification to lead high-intensity multi domain operations (initially at taskforce level). For the case of open conflict we shall evaluate the possibility of commanding from alternative locations.
[...]

More detailed information is mentioned as classified, along the lines of "don't bother asking for details".

The last of the above paragraphs in my opinion means that they're evaluating keeping the current Naval HQ at Glückstadt operational as a reinforced second site - it's located in a Cold War surface bunker. Previous plans were to demolish it after moving the Naval HQ to Rostock, which is currently ongoing.

The underlined paragraph outlining LoA with regard to AoR is nothing really new - other than the mentioning of "participating in the protection of CBGs".

Perhaps a bit interestingly in a non-translated part he mentions the name of the current deployment of the German Navy - BALTIC GUARD. Haven't seen that stated anywhere public yet so far otherwise. He basically only thanks the men and women participating in that operation.

 

[Zoomer]

Hello Kato!
I have a question:
The German Navy announced it will get 2+2 Type 212 CD submarines. Will those 4 new submarines replace the 4 older Type 212 for a total number of 6 or there is a requirement for a total number of 8 submarines in the fleet?

 

[kato]

The German Type 212CD order is for 2 submarines, which would be in addition to current units.

There has been a long-term requirement for 8 submarines since the first 212A order, however given potential recent or near-future geostrategic realignments this requirement may change - it is based on a standard rotation factor for sustainably deploying submarines to two missions in parallel, which is not relevant outside an ICM focus.

The Type 212CD contract does include options for two additional submarines. If exercised these would likely replace two of the 212A Batch 1 unless requirements change; by production plan this would take place around 2038-2040, by which time the oldest two would be 33-35 years old.

 

[Zoomer]

Thank you!
Yesterday I read that the option for 2 more T212CDs was exercised. Along with the option for 2 more F126 and 5 addition K130 corvettes (the 5 older vessels will be sold to foreign navies). Is this true?

 

[kato]

Media ... and local politicians ... jump to that conclusion because they see the projects listed and read "expansion"... once you go into the actual documents though there's simply no room for that.

The below is the allocation for procurement in "Dimension Sea" within the economic plan for the Special Fonds, non-classified.

The number in the top left corner is the budget chapter, the 10,000 in the top right corner is a blanket assignment of 10 million Euro in 2022.



The projects written in italics (incl K130, F126, U212CD) are marked below as:
These projects are currently part of Budget 14 (defense). They will be partially expanded and from budget year 2023 will be transferred into the special fonds.

With these transferred commitment authorization the allocated sum rises from the stated 8.806 billion Euro to 10.854 billion Euro.

Project costs for these three projects that were already paid in recent years (2019-2022) are:
1.822 billion Euro for K130 second batch.
339 million Euro for U212CD.
946 million Euro for F126.

This means that for the above projects 13.961 billion will be available for overall cost commitment.

The known cost of the projects paid to the shipyards the contracts were closed with are:
2.27 billion for K130.
2.79 billion for U212CD.
5.27 billion for F126.

These costs however do not accomodate socalled Beistellungen (reuse of equipment), internal planning costs, additional spare parts procurement beyond the base contract or ammunition internalized to the procurement of these projects. It should be noted that it has been announced that a massive expansion of ammunition and spare parts procurement where assignable to specific projects will be internalized to those.

What we have remaining for that is 3.79 billion Euro, about 27% of the above sum. And of course those 3.79 billion also cover the other five minor listed projects.

There is therefore basically no room for exercising both options and buying a third batch K130 is actually included in this. I could see leeway for "either option", i.e. exercising either the option for U212CD or the one for F126 - but not both. And between the both of them i'd see F126 to be the more likely one there.

This is unless they changed the budget for this year from the most recent draft (from mid-March) already and accomodated the options in there for transfer into the fonds. In that case there'd be ample room.

 

[kato]

F214 Lübeck will (... once again ...) depart for her "last deployment" next monday.
...
Planned return at Wilhelmshaven naval base is in June this year.

F214 Lübeck will return from her "last deployment" this thursday. The ship will be decommissioned end of the year as the last remaining unit of the Frigate Type 122 Bremen class.

On her deployment as flagship of SNMG2 she was replaced by Berlin-class AOR A1413 Bonn two weeks ago.

 

[kato]

The Federal Audit Office (Bundesrechnungshof) is apparently investigating the Type 707 fleet tanker contract which overshot cost estimates by 250 million Euro.

Of particular interest is the internal audit of the contract at BAAInBw and "why" BAAInBw leadership signaled the MoD a go-ahead on the contract before the internal audit (which was very skeptical of the contract) was complete.

The investigation is in preparation of a possible parliamentary inquest into the contract.

 

[kato]

According to North German Radio NDR the Bundeswehr is interested in buying the MV Werften shipyard at Rostock.

The government's offer - subject to parliamentary approval - has been accepted by the liquidator. The offer was formally made on June 21st on the last day of the deadline of bidding for it. There were supposedly multiple other bids, primarily from companies intending to build and repair ships for construction and tending of offshore wind parks there. The deal is still being finalized (partly due to the parliamentary approval) and is expected to be closed end of next week; the announcement today has been that the liquidator has chosen the government bid and other bids for it will no longer be considered.

It is planned to run Rostock as a branch shipyard of Navy Arsenal Wilhelmshaven with 400-500 employees on site. The additional arsenal site is claimed to have no impact on expansion of the Navy Arsenal's Wilhelmshaven main site, where construction of a large drydock is planned to begin ca next year. Notably Kiel is not mentioned in that regard, which in my opinion likely means that the planned new floating dock for Navy Arsenal Kiel is no longer a thing.

The primary attraction of Rostock for the Navy as an Arsenal is its drydock. Currently no commercial repair shipyard on the Baltic Sea - in Germany - has any sort of docking capacity, hence requiring the Navy to move ships to the North Sea for any midsize to larger repairs. Literally the only floating dock on the Baltic Sea - in Germany - is Dock 2 of Lindenau Shipyard in Kiel owned by German Naval Yards. There would arguably have been other options recently as well, in particular since after the bankruptcy of Pella Sietas shipyard a floating dock of sufficient size came on the market in April (given it was the only one on the market in Northern Europe that might have been a higher investment though).

The Rostock shipyard - in its drydock - currently houses the partially complete cruiseship Global Two, with about 17,000 tons steel already assembled before the bankruptcy. The current concept of the liquidator is apparently to "have the site cleared" within 6 months, although apparently so far Global Two has not been sold to any scrapper.

Genting operated three other shipyards in Germany:

• Wismar has been bought up by TKMS who plans to erect a submarine assembly line there from 2024, as well as retain it for capacity for possible additional corvette and frigate orders. TKMS plans to take over about 800 out of 2000 employees initially, with potential growth back up to 1500. Docked at the Wismar yard is the 80% complete 208,000-ton cruiseship Global One, which was not bought by TKMS and is planned to still be liquidated before TKMS fully re-utilizes the place.
• Stralsund was bought by the municipality in January this year which plans to turn it into a general business park. Most of the shipyard has since been rented out to Norwegian company Fosen Yards. Stralsund is where MV Werften built their only completed ship under Genting, Crystal Endeavour. Fosen already bought Nordseewerke Emden - on the other end of the German coastline - from TKMS in 2019, but for that subcompany declared insolvency June 1st due to rising steel prices. The Stralsund site as a separate business unit is not affected by that, and in fact appears to be trying to snatch up contracts from their bankrupt sister company.
• Lloyd Shipyard Bremerhaven - on the North Sea - was sold to a local consortium of steel construction company Rönner and construction company Zech Group in March this year. There have been accusations that Rönner-Zech primarily bought the shipyard for the real estate, however the group has since announced that they plan to continue to run the shipyard reorienting it towards ship repairs. Under Genting Bremerhaven was building megayachts (...one) and subcontracted for final outfitting for other international shipyards in this field. The shipyard did not operate under the MV Werften label, but separately.

 

[kato]

Apparently F124 frigate Sachsen started her laser weapon trials in the Baltic Sea last monday.

First firing campaign seems to be against a shoreside proving target near the village of Schwedeneck in the Bay of Eckernförde and mostly seems to be about testing the integration with the ship's combat management system, handover of targets from the radar etc. The proving target is operated by naval weapons R&D center WTD71 based at Eckernförde. Sachsen is planned to finish this initial campaign after this weekend, and will then move to Kiel where she'll be based for following trials deployments in the Baltic Sea.

The laser demonstrator module is fairly low-powered at 20 kW. The overall test campaign is not so much about evaluating capabilities of a laser as a shipboard weapon, but instead is primarily about evaluating the shipboard footprint on a regular ship, i.e. the integration and maintenance requirements, especially over the longer term. The system is - to my knowledge - planned to remain onboard for up to a year, until Sachsen goes into a larger maintenance in 2023 during which she'll also have her VLS installed again.

 

[kato]

The "RHIB 1010 Successor" is the first project from the Special 100 Billion Fund being realized - due to its rather small size.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1544239903126573058

Tthey're likely fairly off-the-shelf C-1200 OB (or IB) boats from Boomeranger in Finland with some bespoke modifications regarding primarily communications and weapon stations.

Contract is for 9 units with an option for further 12 units.

The boats are used by navy special forces (KSM) exclusively. Air transportable by A400M, sea transportable onboard Berlin class AORs or on F126, land transportable on trailers. The numbers present a considerable increase over current numbers, which - beyond the age of the old boats - have been considered deficient in recent years. The new boats are also considerably faster and longer-ranged.

Presentation of old RHIB 1010:

 

[kato]

Keel has been laid for the first of the two SVK 50m ships for WTD71.

Fassmer is having the hull built at Western Baltija in Lithuania as usual. Transfer to Fassmer's yard in northwest Germany for outfitting is planned for October and December respectively for the two ships.

 

[kato]

The fourth and last F125, F225 Rheinland-Pfalz has been transferred to the Navy by its builder ARGE F125 (TKMS/NVL coop).

F225 Rheinland-Pfalz was commissioned today. Therefore now all F125 are in service. FOC is planned for 2023.
First crew of F225 Rheinland-Pfalz is Charlie crew, which was also the first crew of F223 Nordrhein-Westfalen.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1547218035387248640

 

[kato]

Interview with Vice Admiral Frank Lenski, Deputy Inspector Admiral of the Navy and Commander of the Fleet and Support Forces. He was instated in that post on March 11th.

Switch on captions, set auto-translate to English, perfectly understandable.
.
Format is "Nachgefragt", the current interview series on the Bundeswehr's Youtube channel with high-ranking officers focusing on the Russia-Ukraine War. The interview is mostly about questions in that regard, but to a large extent of course rather goes into what the Navy did and is planning. While of course not really saying much.