Article Posted on : - Apr 17, 2015

An artistic illustration of F125 frigate. A ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems photo

HAMBURG (BNS): The second of four F125 class multi-mission frigate for the German Navy has been christened at shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems' Hamburg facility on April 16.

The new frigate has been christened as "Nordrhein-Westfalen" and is scheduled to be handed over to the German defence procurement agency in mid-2018.

Following the christening of the first frigate "Baden-Württemberg" in December 2013, this is a further important milestone in the shipbuilding programme for this frigate class, the shipbuilder said.

The contract for the four frigates is worth around two billion euros in total. While the first ship of the class is slated for delivery by November 2016, the last one is due for delivery in 2019.

Germany, in 2007, had awarded a contract to the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems-led ARGE F125 industrial consortium to build the four F125 frigates for its Navy.

The multi-mission warships are designed to carry out a range of roles, including peace-keeping missions, counter-terrorism roles and network-centric operations. They will be able to defend themselves against both conventional as well as asymmetric threats.

The new frigates are set to replace the F122 Bremen class frigates operated by the German Navy.