The new warehouses, which will be delivered in 2033 and 2034, will be in addition to the four already awarded by Berlin to the Dutch manufacturer
Germany’s unique effort to strengthen its armed forces, following the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is also reaching the sea. Berlin is going to strengthen its fleet with the order from the Dutch manufacturer Damen Naval for two of the four F126 frigates planned, and which already represented, according to the company, the “largest shipbuilding project in the history of the German navy”.
The budget committee of the German parliament (Bundestag) gave the green light in the middle of the month to the acquisition of a fifth and a sixth ship of this class, called Niedersachsen, and this Wednesday the parties have signed the contract.
Damen Naval’s CEO, Roland Briene, has shown his company’s pride in “our German customer having confidence in us and in the design of the F126 to order two more boats”. By making effective the possible option of two more ships contemplated in the initial contract of four F126s, it exercises, in Briene’s opinion, “the fastest way to expand and modernize the surface fleet of the German Navy”. And after stressing that the decision “also benefits the German procurement organisation and the industry involved”, the Damen senior manager stresses: “Having more ships of the same class brings many advantages”.
If the planned schedule is not altered, the first frigate, whose first steel cut took place last December, will be delivered in 2028, and the two vessels now added to the order will be delivered in 2033 and 2034 respectively.