German Navy

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
F123 upgrade goes to a consortium of Saab (electronics), Abeking & Rasmussen (shipyard) and ESG (logistics).
[...]
The upgrade is planned to be rolled out between 2021 and 2030
Frigate F216 Schleswig-Holstein is the first one being upgraded and was docked up in Emden for this purpose this week.

The upgrade is being done at a subcontractor there, "Emder Werft und Dock GmbH", which is situated in the former Nordseewerke shipyard.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
The "Navy Arsenal Warnowwerft" was formally inaugurated in Rostock yesterday:


The Navy expects to use the shipyard with 482 new posts to repair up to four ships per year. One of the first will be the "fleet service boat" (i.e. ELINT ship) Alster.

The main reason for the arsenal to be opened only now was that some 17,500 tons of steel of cruiseship Global 2 - worth several million as scrap metal - had to be removed from the dock first.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
1)

The last of 18 Sea Lion (NH90 NTH) has been delivered to the German Navy. The helicopters replace the Mk41 Sea King as SAR and VERTREP helicopters.

Deliveries of a further 31 Sea Tiger (NH90 NFH) replacing Mk88 Sea Lynx are supposed to start in 2025.


2) The first of the two STS / Class Y744 tugboats for WTD71 has been launched at shipyard SET.

SET lässt Marine-Neubau zu Wasser - Binnenschifffahrt Online
 

mariohot

Member
what should be Future surface combat system,,added to corvettes, in Bundesmarine 2035+ plan? fast missile attack craft? And 18 of them?
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Unknown so far, but speculation tends to veer towards them just being the "multi-purpose combat boats" for the Seebatallion naval infantry.

Not gonna comment much on ZVM 2035+ here as all official publication on it has been pulled with a reference to it being "not finalized" - as well as any actual ZVM itself always having been classified. As a general note though - treat it more as a wishlist.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
what should be Future surface combat system,,added to corvettes, in Bundesmarine 2035+ plan? fast missile attack craft? And 18 of them?
Reconciling sources, in my opinion FCSS in ZVM2035+ is a German version or German analogue to the US Navy's LUSV programme.

You can find a detailed description of LUSV for the USN in this source (page 5-11):

I'd base this both around the description in the "pulled" ZVM2035+ (maritime strike focus, as for LUSV) as well as an interview with Vice Admiral Kaack who added the comment the envisioned vessels would be optionally manned with a crew of "around 10". The icon used for FCSS in ZVM2035+ is likely a modified sideview of the (smaller) MDUSV prototypes that were recently handed over to the USN, with an image of the Sea Hunter MDUSV also shown separately in ZVM2035+.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Not gonna comment much on ZVM 2035+ here as all official publication on it has been pulled with a reference to it being "not finalized"
The unclassified brochure for ZVM 2035+ has now been officially released (on March 15th, on website about two weeks later).

In a comparison to the "not finalized" version it is somewhat clear why they had to pull that one - the "final" version is heavily reworded in many places, mostly removing sentences that would have suggested "preemptive strikes" and similar military actions, as well as pulling back on focusing the navy on NATO's northern flank and heavily sanitizing suggestions of the navy intruding on areas under purview of other federal agencies.

In many cases this rewording included entirely removing paragraphs and subsections. There are also some very minor changes here and there with contextual impact, such as replacing the wish for a "hardened" second HQ with a second HQ with "protected buildings"; those are often controversial individual items where expressing favour for a particular solution (here: keeping the Cold War bunkers in Glücksburg as a second HQ) had to be toned down.

The ZVM - Zielvorstellung Marine, or "Objective Navy" - is a document that is published about every 10 years and serves as a planning concept for what the Navy suggests it wants in numbers for a force model 10 years in the future in order to face expected geopolitical events.

It is not - unlike how many see it - any sort of commitment to the exact numbers presented in it, but instead presents a model of what the Navy both considers itself able to operate then, and what it considers possible technologically. Political and industry concerns, finances and operational changes tend to impact on to what extent it is realized. ZVM2025+ for example contained LHDs, which as a project were entirely zero-funded a bit later.

With that as preface: Derived numbers for a future force model haven't changed from the non-finalized version.

zvm.jpg

The planned force model - and, as said earlier, treat that as a wishlist - is mostly based around introducing Unmanned or Optionally Manned systems in the Navy. This is sort of a focus of the current ZVM, intended to lower manning requirements and operational costs.
  • Future Combat Surface System : up to 18 vessels that supplement corvettes, non-finalized version had these for maritime strike roles
  • Mine Countermeasure Toolbox : undecided number of systems supporting MCM platforms
  • Unmanned Aerial System : up to 22 units that supplement onboard (ASW) Sea Tiger helicopters
  • Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle : up to 6 units that supplement submarines
The numbers intended would depend on how many of the supplemented systems are in the fleet. They can also be seen somewhat as a "in lieu of more of the real thing which we don't have the sailors or finances for".

Outside those there are minor adaptions in fleet numbers; these are reasoned for as shifting to a basic 3.0 rotation factor without much explanation here - the "non-finalized version" had a sentence on moving away from intensive use operational models and multiple crew manning models, which is reflected in these numbers.

These adaptions also reflect a wish within current navy leadership to move away from current low-intensity overseas engagements, or rather move away from modeling the Navy to service those. This results in ship numbers in the adaption to a 3.0 RF being preferably rounded down for systems primarily used in such operations (F125 frigates and K130 corvettes), and ship numbers being preferably rounded up in other systems (U212CD subs, future MCM vessels and A707 fleet tankers).

As a note on the chart above:
In discussion in Germany the symbols used for ship classes were somewhat hotly discussed with claims derived from them, to the point of pixel-counting to derive sizes and inferring functionalities. I personally wouldn't give much on that. For vessels that do not currently exist they simply used "similar" vessels in other navies; the icon used for MCM vessels for example is fairly clearly that of Dutch-Belgian MCM motherships, that for FCSS is a USN MDUSV vessel.
 
Last edited:

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
First of the two SVK ("Sea Trials Coast") vessels under construction has been launched.


Transfer and naming of the ship is planned for June. The second vessel is planned to follow in November.

Going by the left picture the ship will be named Y898 Kalkgrund. The previous Kalkgrund was the Stollergrund class vessel Y865 which was decommissioned in 2004 and sold to the Israeli Navy where she serves as INS Bat Yam.
 
Last edited:

mariohot

Member
First of the two SVK ("Sea Trials Coast") vessels under construction has been launched.


Transfer and naming of the ship is planned for June. The second vessel is planned to follow in November.

Going by the left picture the ship will be named Y898 Kalkgrund. The previous Kalkgrund was the Stollergrund class vessel Y865 which was decommissioned in 2004 and sold to the Israeli Navy where she serves as INS Bat Yam.
what about 6 larger vessels for WTD71,
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
what about 6 larger vessels for WTD71,
Would be 2 larger vessels for WTD71, the other 4 would go to the general Navy (as school ships). Hasn't been tendered out yet and currently a short- to medium-term plan, think something like 2025-2027.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Found some videos for WSV / Coastguard vessels under construction published in the last two weeks. Audio is in German (CCs work), people showing around are all from WSV itself (not shipyard).


New large 100m/7000-ton multipurpose ships being built in blocks. This shows the first of the three vessels (or rather its separate blocks lined up), currently all three are under construction in parallel. If i remember right this particular ship is supposed to be handed over for trials in autumn this year.

Second multi-purpose ship video with some inside shots.
These two videos were taken in January at Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard, when the keel for the third vessel was laid.

---


"E-Spatz" electric-propulsion station boat (15m/20-ton) under construction will also get a full 360-degree "glass cockpit" unlike current Spatz vessels, with most vertical struts "removed". Video shows some complications of this, in particular managing water spill to optimize visibility. For these station boats this glass cockpit is somewhat relevant as a quality-of-life improvement since these are generally operated by a single person in most operations - with task-specific crew added only when necessary (e.g. crane operator for ATON barge, survey systems operator, additional men for river patrol).

There is a series of shorter videos for the same boat:

Outside, focusing on pre-primer-treated steel hull and aluminium superstructure
Cockpit, includes animation of forward lower deck (pantry)
Battery Room, behind fireproof doors.
Propulsion, not installed yet.

Batteries hold 980 kWh according to third video. Last 30 seconds of third video show stored equipment ready for installation once the hull is finished up. Planned handover of this vessel is summer this year.

Note the quite long half-height superstructure over the back deck behind the cockpit, housing the propulsion and batteries. Most Spatz vessels have mostly an open work deck there, in the third video at the beginning you can see another, regular Spatz under construction in the background for a comparison.
 
Last edited:

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
"E-Spatz" electric-propulsion station boat (15m/20-ton) under construction [...] Planned handover of this vessel is summer this year.
The boat was launched April 28th, with interior construction continuing afterwards - in the last few days the batteries were installed.
Full size is 16.8m length, displacement is 21.5 tons dry (i.e. plus batteries).

In parallel the network of land power stations in the West-German Canals district of WSV, where the boat will be used and depend on these, was announced completed two weeks ago - wih 64 cabinets installed at 21 positions along the district's 300 km of artificial canals and 50 km of river.

New large 100m/7000-ton multipurpose ships being built in blocks. This shows the first of the three vessels (or rather its separate blocks lined up)
Subsequent videos show (and tell) that the blocks as shown in the hall at Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard are not in the "right order", i.e. not lined up and will have to still be moved around in the construction hall. In addition the bridge module can only be installed after the ship has been assembled and pulled out of the hall - since it's not high enough.

Abeking & Rasmussen now has a fairly detailed animated video showcasing the ships as a presentation - there actually wasn't much in that direction previously:


Elements shown in a sort of flyover sequentially are, with some details given:
  • helicopter landing deck (forward - for EC225 / AS332 / NH90)
  • helicopter winching deck (aft - actually the free aft deck that the towing line would be deployed over)
  • pollution collection arms
  • bow thruster and pump jet for high-precision positioning and maneuvering
  • hull sonar
  • 360-degree Schottel SRP propellers (propulsion: min sustained speed 15 knots / towing up to 145t bollard pull)
  • LNG engines ("suitable for use in dangerous atmosphere"; 350 m³ net volume LNG tank)
  • hull cooling for use in contaminated waters (... also relevant for operations in ice and algae blooms)
  • overpressure NBC citadel (with 30 min bottled reserve) with several dozen LEL/CO/O2 sensors for surrounding atmosphere
 
Last edited:

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
The Navy is planning to replace its two ocean tugs A1451 Wangerooge and A1452 Spiekeroog asap by buying and converting used civilian ships.
The first of these replacement tugs will be the ocean tug Rota Endurance, formerly Highland Endurance. The ship will - after maintenance by its current owners - be delivered in July to Naval Base Kiel for inspection and crew training. Subsequently she'll go to the new Navy Arsenal Rostock shipyard for "necessary military modifications".


The ship stats kinda sound like the tender was written specifically for her:

P.S.: The ship will apparently be renamed Rügen - for Germany's largest island.
 
Last edited:

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Germany is decommissioning its last LCU today, L762 Lachs. There are no plans to replace her.
Lachs is now actually being retired. Or her retirement being announced, now planned for next year. We'll see.


She's currently on a "goodbye tour" - down the Rhine, for publicity (recruitment) reasons.

 

SolarisKenzo

Well-Known Member
Fincantieri signs an important cooperation contract with the German Navy, including the maintenance of German U-212 SSKs.
Italian SSKs are a license versions of the german U-212A and the new SSKs currently being built by Fincantieri are also based on the U-212.
This cooperation seems absolutely positive and comes after two recent DE-IT institutional meetings.
Those kind of operations really strengthen EU defence.

 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Tender has been issued for a framework contract for up to 15 combat boats for the Seebataillon naval infantry.

Requires off-the-shelf boats "preferably used in another NATO navy". It's considered likely that the two contestants for bidding will be Alutech with Watercat 18 AMC and Saab with CB90.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
I think Norway has some CB90, & Sweden's not quite a NATO member, but very close to it. And the Watercat 18 AMC is used by the Finnish Navy.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Seebataillon troops have trained with both types during the biannual Northern Coasts exercises, to the point of having had crews certified for operation of such vessels by Swedish and Finnish forces respectively.

Below: Seebattalion troops operating a finnish "Jehu" class vessel (Watercat M18 AMC) during Northern Coasts 2018.


The only other somewhat serious contender in the field would have been German shipyard Fassmer with their FCC17 offer, but since the tender requires ships introduced with a NATO or partner navy ("minimum two vessels") they've effectively been excluded.

Offhand the precise conditions also similarly exclude a few other possibilities, such as US company Rivercraft LLC with their "Combat Craft Medium" recently sold to Norwegian special forces.
 
Top