MAGDEBURG
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:03 pm
The K130 Braunschweig class (sometimes Korvette 130) is Germany's newest class of ocean-going corvettes. They supplement the Gepard-class fast attack craft that are currently used. They feature reduced radar and infra-red signature ("stealth" beyond the Sachsen class frigate) and will be equipped with two helicopter UAVs for remote sensing. Recently, the German Navy ordered a first batch of 6 Camcopter S-100 UAVs for the use on the Braunschweig class corvettes. Also the German Army plans to procure the Camcopter S-100 for land-based missions. The hangar is too small for standard helicopters, but the pad is large enough for Sea Kings, Lynx or NH-90s, the helicopters of the German Navy.
Originally the K130-class was supposed to be armed with the naval version of the Polyphem missile, an optical fiber-guided missile with a range of 60 km, which at the time was under development. The Polyphem program was canceled in 2003 and instead the designers chose to equip the class with the RBS-15. While the RBS-15 has a much greater range (250 km), the current version mounted on the ships, Mk3, lacks the ECM-resistant video feedback of the Polyphem. The German Navy has ordered the RBS-15 Mk4 in advance, which will be a future development of the Mk3 with increased range (400 km) and a dual seeker for increased resistance to electronic countermeasures.
Difficulty of Classification
Vessels of this class do not have an executive officer (German: Erster Offizier). Traditionally, in the Germany navy this was used as a rule to classify a vessel as a boat, not a ship. In a press release the German Navy states that these corvettes will be called ships nonetheless because of their size, armament and endurance. The commanding officer wields the same disciplinary power as a German Army company commander, not that of a battalion commander as is the case with the larger German warships such as frigates. However, in size, armament, protection and role these corvettes resemble modern Anti Surface Warfare (ASuW) frigates, the main difference being the total absence of any Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) related sensors or weapons.
Technical Problems
The new lightweight gearing of the corvettes has experienced severe problems. Until the Swiss contractor for the gearing, Renk-MAAG GmbH of Winterthur, Switzerland, for whom this was the first contract with the German Navy, can remedy the constructional deficiencies which have been identified early in the operation of the first vessels the commissioning of the three not yet commissioned corvettes has been delayed. They, as well as the first two already commissioned units, are currently laid up and unable to go to sea until the projected changes to the gearing have been effected. New issues have occurred with air conditioning system, gears, toxic emissions by the exhaust system and missile system. While the corvettes were originally projected to be commissioned between May 2007 and February 2009 operational capability was expected for 2014
In January 2011 MAGDEBURG sailed from Warnemünde to Hammerfest in Norway to undertake cold weather testing. The conditions for the test included -2 degrees Celsius water temperature and -15 degrees Celsius air temperature. On the way the vessel also took on operations and training exercises including seamanship and tactical exercises. It was while off the coast of Norway in February that mould and condensation formed in the ship. This stemmed from the fact that mistakes were made in the construction of air conditioning units. This meant that the other four corvettes had to be revised again.
MAGDEBURG successfully completed the "FOST" program (Flag Officer Sea Training) of the Royal Navy in the first half of 2012 and on 24th September was assigned to UNIFIL operations in the eastern Mediterranean. It was estimated that she would take two weeks to get to her destination port of Limassol for a two month deployment. She returned to Warnemunde on 19th December.
MAGDEBURG became the first of the Braunschweig class corvettes to join NATO’s SNMG 1. On 20 January 2014 she left her home port and headed for Bergen in Norway to join up with other SNMG 1 vessels. She is expected to be in British and Norwegian waters before sailing for the Mediterranean in the middle of the year.
On 31st March 2014 MAGDEBURG sailed from Leith, Scotland, in company with 3 NATO frigates to take part in Exercise Joint Warrior for the first time. The exercise, which takes place of the north west coast of Scotland, is due to finish on 11th April. Her position can be seen on Marine Traffic http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/home . At present she is north west of Cape Wrath, north-west Scotland. There are ships from the Royal Navy, USA, France, Holland, Turkey, Norway, Denmark and Belgium also in the exercise.
Builder: Lürssen-Werft - Bremen
Laid down: 19 May 2005
Launched: 6 September 2006
Completed: 22 September 2008
Type: Corvette
Displacement: 1,840 tonnes (1,810 long tons)
Length: 89.12 m (292 ft 5 in)
Beam: 13.28 m (43 ft 7 in)
Draft: 3.4 m (11 ft 2 in)
Propulsion: MTU 20V 1163 TB 93 diesel engines producing 14.8MW, driving two controllable-pitch propellers.
Speed: 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Range: 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Endurance: 7 days; 21 days with tender
Complement: 65: 1 commander, 10 officers, 16 chief petty officers, 38 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems: • TRS-3D multifunction radar
• 2 navigation radars
• MSSR 2000 i IFF system
• MIRADOR electro-optical sensors
• UL 5000 K ESM suite
• Link 11 and Link 16 communications
Electronic warfare & decoys: • 2 × TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) decoy launcher • UL 5000 K ECM suite
Armament: Guns; 1 x Otobreda 76 mm gun
2 x MLG 27 mm autocannons
Anti-ship; 4 x RBS-15 Mk.3 Anti-ship missiles
CIWS; 2 x 21-cell RAM CIWS missile launchers
Mine laying capability.
Aircraft carried: Helicopter pad and hangar for two Camcopter S-100
The attached photo shows FGS MAGDEBURG berthed at Leith, Scotland, on a dull, miserable Sunday morning – 30 March 2014. The ship to the left of her is HNoMS THOR HEYERDAHL (F 314). In front of her is the Turkish frigate TCG GAZIANTEP (F 490) and to her right is HDMS PETER WILLEMOES (F 362). Their berthing positions made it very difficult to photograph them. To get the Turk I had to go into a local supermarket car park. From a different vantage point the Royal Yacht BRITANNIA was in the way of the two outboard ships.
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.marine.de/portal/a/marine
Mozambique 2009 175.00MT sg?, scott?
Peter Crichton.
__._,_.___
Originally the K130-class was supposed to be armed with the naval version of the Polyphem missile, an optical fiber-guided missile with a range of 60 km, which at the time was under development. The Polyphem program was canceled in 2003 and instead the designers chose to equip the class with the RBS-15. While the RBS-15 has a much greater range (250 km), the current version mounted on the ships, Mk3, lacks the ECM-resistant video feedback of the Polyphem. The German Navy has ordered the RBS-15 Mk4 in advance, which will be a future development of the Mk3 with increased range (400 km) and a dual seeker for increased resistance to electronic countermeasures.
Difficulty of Classification
Vessels of this class do not have an executive officer (German: Erster Offizier). Traditionally, in the Germany navy this was used as a rule to classify a vessel as a boat, not a ship. In a press release the German Navy states that these corvettes will be called ships nonetheless because of their size, armament and endurance. The commanding officer wields the same disciplinary power as a German Army company commander, not that of a battalion commander as is the case with the larger German warships such as frigates. However, in size, armament, protection and role these corvettes resemble modern Anti Surface Warfare (ASuW) frigates, the main difference being the total absence of any Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) related sensors or weapons.
Technical Problems
The new lightweight gearing of the corvettes has experienced severe problems. Until the Swiss contractor for the gearing, Renk-MAAG GmbH of Winterthur, Switzerland, for whom this was the first contract with the German Navy, can remedy the constructional deficiencies which have been identified early in the operation of the first vessels the commissioning of the three not yet commissioned corvettes has been delayed. They, as well as the first two already commissioned units, are currently laid up and unable to go to sea until the projected changes to the gearing have been effected. New issues have occurred with air conditioning system, gears, toxic emissions by the exhaust system and missile system. While the corvettes were originally projected to be commissioned between May 2007 and February 2009 operational capability was expected for 2014
In January 2011 MAGDEBURG sailed from Warnemünde to Hammerfest in Norway to undertake cold weather testing. The conditions for the test included -2 degrees Celsius water temperature and -15 degrees Celsius air temperature. On the way the vessel also took on operations and training exercises including seamanship and tactical exercises. It was while off the coast of Norway in February that mould and condensation formed in the ship. This stemmed from the fact that mistakes were made in the construction of air conditioning units. This meant that the other four corvettes had to be revised again.
MAGDEBURG successfully completed the "FOST" program (Flag Officer Sea Training) of the Royal Navy in the first half of 2012 and on 24th September was assigned to UNIFIL operations in the eastern Mediterranean. It was estimated that she would take two weeks to get to her destination port of Limassol for a two month deployment. She returned to Warnemunde on 19th December.
MAGDEBURG became the first of the Braunschweig class corvettes to join NATO’s SNMG 1. On 20 January 2014 she left her home port and headed for Bergen in Norway to join up with other SNMG 1 vessels. She is expected to be in British and Norwegian waters before sailing for the Mediterranean in the middle of the year.
On 31st March 2014 MAGDEBURG sailed from Leith, Scotland, in company with 3 NATO frigates to take part in Exercise Joint Warrior for the first time. The exercise, which takes place of the north west coast of Scotland, is due to finish on 11th April. Her position can be seen on Marine Traffic http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/home . At present she is north west of Cape Wrath, north-west Scotland. There are ships from the Royal Navy, USA, France, Holland, Turkey, Norway, Denmark and Belgium also in the exercise.
Builder: Lürssen-Werft - Bremen
Laid down: 19 May 2005
Launched: 6 September 2006
Completed: 22 September 2008
Type: Corvette
Displacement: 1,840 tonnes (1,810 long tons)
Length: 89.12 m (292 ft 5 in)
Beam: 13.28 m (43 ft 7 in)
Draft: 3.4 m (11 ft 2 in)
Propulsion: MTU 20V 1163 TB 93 diesel engines producing 14.8MW, driving two controllable-pitch propellers.
Speed: 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Range: 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Endurance: 7 days; 21 days with tender
Complement: 65: 1 commander, 10 officers, 16 chief petty officers, 38 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems: • TRS-3D multifunction radar
• 2 navigation radars
• MSSR 2000 i IFF system
• MIRADOR electro-optical sensors
• UL 5000 K ESM suite
• Link 11 and Link 16 communications
Electronic warfare & decoys: • 2 × TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) decoy launcher • UL 5000 K ECM suite
Armament: Guns; 1 x Otobreda 76 mm gun
2 x MLG 27 mm autocannons
Anti-ship; 4 x RBS-15 Mk.3 Anti-ship missiles
CIWS; 2 x 21-cell RAM CIWS missile launchers
Mine laying capability.
Aircraft carried: Helicopter pad and hangar for two Camcopter S-100
The attached photo shows FGS MAGDEBURG berthed at Leith, Scotland, on a dull, miserable Sunday morning – 30 March 2014. The ship to the left of her is HNoMS THOR HEYERDAHL (F 314). In front of her is the Turkish frigate TCG GAZIANTEP (F 490) and to her right is HDMS PETER WILLEMOES (F 362). Their berthing positions made it very difficult to photograph them. To get the Turk I had to go into a local supermarket car park. From a different vantage point the Royal Yacht BRITANNIA was in the way of the two outboard ships.
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.marine.de/portal/a/marine
Mozambique 2009 175.00MT sg?, scott?
Peter Crichton.
__._,_.___