German Navy starts building new fleet service boats - A new course!

German Navy starts building new fleet service boats - A new course!

The German Navy is investing in its future: Today the company NVL (Naval Vessels Lürssen) started the construction of the second of three new fleet service boats at the Peene shipyard in Wolgast. This move comes several months ahead of the originally planned time frame, giving those responsible hope. The new boats are each an impressive 130 meters long and are expected to replace the outdated “Oste” class, which has been in use since 1988, from 2029. A volume of around 3.26 billion euros was planned for the overall order, which also includes a training facility, as Welt reports.

The need for these new boats is particularly highlighted by the current geopolitical situation. Vice Admiral Axel Deertz emphasizes that the new technology is essential for security precautions. Major General Jürgen Setzer describes the boats as essential to ensure reconnaissance in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Frigate construction – a crisis with many facets

But not everything is going smoothly at the German Navy. Parallel to the construction of the fleet service boats, progress on the Frigate project, the new class F126 frigates, is in jeopardy. The keel for the first of these frigates was laid in December 2023, but construction progressed slowly. Damen Naval, the general contractor, is facing massive design software issues that are causing significant delays. Marineforum reports that delivery of the first frigate, originally scheduled for 2028, could now be postponed to at least 2031.

In this tense situation, it is now being discussed whether the F126 project should be canceled, even though over 1.8 billion euros have already been invested. The Federal Budget Committee has alternatively created the possibility that TKMS could build six Meko A200 frigates instead of the F126. Although these are less powerful, they offer the advantage of being able to be built more cost-effectively and quickly.

Political decisions and future prospects

The background to these developments is complex. Marine inspector Jan Christian Kaack has spoken out in favor of further building F126s, while at the same time the federal government is also planning to increase the number of frigates to six. The scope of the armaments project therefore amounts to three billion euros. According to [Kreiszeitung](https://www.kreiszeitung.de/politik/deutschland-bundeswehr-marine-kriegsschiffe-fregatten-pistorius- Defense-zr-93127297.html), the new ships will also be used for submarine hunting, protecting sea routes and supporting special forces.

The challenges in the F126 project raise political and legal questions. If the project is canceled, this could not only lead to financial losses for the companies involved, but also have far-reaching effects on the European defense industry. The question also arises as to how Germany can upgrade its military capabilities as quickly as possible in view of geopolitical tensions. Solutions such as faster procurement of the Meko frigates and research into unmanned systems to bridge the capability gaps are under discussion.

It will therefore be exciting to see what decisions the federal government will make in the near future in order to bring the German Navy up to modern standards, while at the same time the geopolitical challenges do not diminish.