Germany christens new frigate Nordrhein-Westfalen

The second of four F125 class frigates of the German Navy was christened Nordrhein-Westfalen in a ceremony at the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems facility in Hamburg on 16 April.

The first frigate was christened Baden-Württemberg in December 2013. The Nordrhein-Westfalen is expected to be handed over to the German defence procurement agency BAAINBw in mid-2018.

The contract for the four frigates is worth around $2.16 billion in total. The ARGE F125 consortium received the contract for the four F125 class ships in 2007, with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems as the lead company. Fr. Lürssen Werft shipyards are constructing the pre-fitted bow sections, while Blohm+Voss Shipyards are constructing the stern sections, joining the two sections and fitting out the ships.

The frigates will replace the 122 Bremen class frigates, eight of which are operated by the navy at present. They are designed for conflict prevention, crisis management, and international intervention and stabilisation missions.

Hans Christoph Atzpodien, CEO, ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, said: 'The F125 class is a completely new type of ship with innovations across numerous fields of technology. It showcases our leading engineering expertise and points the way forward for German naval shipbuilding.'