- Yes
- Maybe
- Unsure
- No
- As built
- 2002 Refit
- 2008 Refit
- 2009 Refit
- 2016 Refit
- Late 2010’s Modernization
- Unsure
- I said no to the first question
Background & History
The Brandenburg class frigate is a class of 4 frigates built for the Bundesmarine/Deutsche Marine in the 1990’s and marked a substantial change in German vessels, compared to the preceding Bremen class frigates the Brandenburg class were designed without the displacement limitations imposed after the Second World War on Germany, these vessels began the trend of following German Frigates which began to replace the destroyers of the German Navy in their role and place, the class itself was built to replace the Hamburg class destroyers and though these ships were classified as frigates they were comparable in displacement to that of the Hamburgs when fully loaded though were much lighter when at standard load.
In terms of armament these vessels were far more missile based than compared to the class in which they were replacing and were in comparison much more lightly armed with the only main caliber gun being a single 76mm/62 OTO Melara Compact gun, the ships had a anti air missile armament of 2 Mark 49 missile launchers with 21 missiles per launcher using the RIM-116 rolling airframe missile or RAM and the other system being 1 Mark 41 VLS with 16 missiles in the VLS and can use either the RIM-7 Sea sparrow however the total amount of missiles can be increased to 64 missiles if the ship is using the RIM-162 Evolved Sea sparrow missile as it was possible to store 4 of the evolved sea sparrow missile in each cell, the ship also had a anti ship missile armament which consisted of 4 MM38 Exocet anti ship missile located in 2 twin launchers though more recently the class has seen the introduction of Harpoon anti ship missiles in 2 quad launchers for a total of 8 anti ship missile, (this modernization will be included in the poll as I can at least confirm Bayern has received this modernization with more recent images but will be listed as “current modernization” (Note this is relevant to the time of when the suggestion was made in 2021 so this might not be up to date) since I don’t have a solid date on when they received the modernization), the remainder of the armament consisted of 2 auto cannons which originally in the form of 2 RH 20mm cannons which were replaced with MLG 27mm cannons as well as including a complement of machine guns, the ship also was armed with 4 12.75-inch (324mm)Mark 32 torpedo tubes located in 2 pairs. The ship also came with a helicopter pad at the rear along with a hanger which could hold 2 helicopters total.
The class itself would be built from 1992 to 1996 with the first ship entering service in 1994, currently the entire class is still active service and is the oldest class of German frigates still in service with the decommissioning of the last Bremen class frigate in 2022 and each have taken part in various operations with them being involved in operations around the Middle East and parts of Africa alongside being involved with naval exercises and port visits to other countries
Specifications
Displacement:
3,600 tons standard
4,490t full load
Length: 138.85 m (455.5 ft)
Beam: 16.7 m (55 ft)
Draft: 4.35 m (14.3 ft) (6.3 m (21 ft) over sonar)
Propulsion:
CODOG (combined diesel or gas)
2 x propeller shafts, controllable pitch propellers
2 x MTU 20V 956 TB92 diesel-engines, 8.14 MW each
2 x General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 38 MW total
2 x Renk BGS 178 Lo gearboxes
Speed: aprox. 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Complement: 216 to 236 (number varies by source)
Sensors and processing systems: (not all elements may be listed or correct)
As built
2 x Sperry E340 radars
1 x Thales LW08 air search D band radar
1 x Thales SMART-S air/surface surveillance F band radar
2 x Raytheon Redpath I band navigation radar
2 x Thales STIR 180 fire-control radar
1 x MSP 500 e/o system
1 x STN Atlas DSQS-23BZ hull-mounted sonar
1 x STN Atlas TASS 6-3 (LFTASS) towed array sonar (Bayern only)
2002 Refit
2 x Sperry E340 radars
1 x Thales LW08 air search D band radar
1 x Thales SMART-S air/surface surveillance F band radar
2 x Raytheon Redpath I band navigation radar
2 x Thales STIR 180 fire-control radar
1 x MSP 500 e/o system
1 x STN Atlas DSQS-23BZ hull-mounted sonar
1 x STN Atlas TASS 6-3 (LFTASS) towed array sonar (Bayern only)
2008 Refit
2 x Sperry E340 radars
1 x Thales LW08 air search D band radar
1 x Thales SMART-S air/surface surveillance F band radar
2 x Raytheon Redpath I band navigation radar
2 x Thales STIR 180 fire-control radar
1 x MSP 500 e/o system
1 x STN Atlas DSQS-24B hull-mounted sonar
1 x STN Atlas TASS 6-3 (LFTASS) towed array sonar (Bayern only)
Late 2010’s
2 x Sperry E340 radars
1 x Thales LW08 air search D band radar
1 x Thales SMART-S air/surface surveillance F band radar
2 x Raytheon Redpath I band navigation radar
2 x Thales STIR 180 fire-control radar
1 x MSP 500 e/o system
1 x STN Atlas DSQS-24B hull-mounted sonar
1 x DSQS-30A LFTASS ASO-92 sonar
1 x STN Atlas TASS 6-3 (LFTASS) towed array sonar (Bayern only)
Electronic warfare & decoys: (not all elements may be listed or correct)
As built
1 x EADS FL-1800S Stage II ECM suite
1 x Maigret ECM suite
2 x OTO-Melara SCLAR dispensers
1 x SATIR-III CCS
2002 Refit
1 x EADS FL-1800S Stage II ECM suite
1 x Maigret ECM suite
2 x OTO-Melara SCLAR dispensers
? x TAÜ torpedo decoy launcher (Not sure how many were equipped)
1 x SATIR-2000 CCS
2009 Refit
1 x EADS FL-1800S Stage II ECM suite
1 x Maigret ECM suite
4 x TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) decoy dispenser
? x TAÜ torpedo decoy launcher (Not sure how many were equipped)
1 x SATIR-2000 CCS
2016 Refit
1 x EADS FL-1800S Stage II ECM suite
1 x Maigret ECM suite
4 x TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) decoy dispenser
? x TAÜ torpedo decoy launcher (Not sure how many were equipped)
1 x SABRINA CCS
Armament:
As built
Main gun:
1 x OTO-Melara 76 mm/62 (3-inch) compact naval gun (1 x 1)
Auto cannons:
2 x 20 mm/65 (0.8") MK 20 Rh 202 guns (2 x 1)
Machine guns: (The numbers on machine guns may not be accurate in terms of what they carried during the period in this refit)
up to 6 x 12.7mm machine guns (6 x 1) (Can be removed)
up to 2 x 7.62mm machine guns (2 x 1) (Can be removed)
SAM systems:
1 x Mark 41 Mod 3 VLS with 16 Sea Sparrow SAM
CWIS:
2 x 21-cell Mark 49 RAM missile launchers, 42 RIM-116 Rolling airframe missiles (2 x 21)
Anti-ship missiles:
4 x MM38 Exocet anti ship missiles (2 x 2) (Can be removed)
2002 Refit
Main gun:
1 x OTO-Melara 76 mm/62 (3-inch) compact naval gun (1 x 1)
Auto cannons:
2 x 27mm MLG 27 Light Naval Gun System (2 x 1)
Machine guns: (The numbers on machine guns may not be accurate in terms of what they carried during the period in this refit)
up to 6 x 12.7mm machine guns (6 x 1) (Can be removed)
up to 2 x 7.62mm machine guns (2 x 1) (Can be removed)
SAM systems:
1 x Mark 41 Mod 3 VLS with 16 Sea Sparrow SAM
CWIS:
2 x 21-cell Mark 49 RAM missile launchers, 42 RIM-116 Rolling airframe missiles (2 x 21)
Anti-ship missiles:
4 x MM38 Exocet anti ship missiles (2 x 2) (Can be removed)
Torpedo tubes:
4 x 12.75 inch (324mm) Mark 32 torpedo tubes (Mark 46 torpedoes) (2 x 2)
Late 2010’s
Main gun:
1 x OTO-Melara 76 mm/62 (3-inch) compact naval gun (1 x 1)
Auto cannons:
2 x 27mm MLG 27 Light Naval Gun System (2 x 1)
Machine guns:
up to 6 x 12.7mm machine guns (6 x 1) (Can be removed)
up to 2 x 7.62mm machine guns (2 x 1) (Can be removed)
SAM systems:
1 x Mark 41 Mod 3 VLS, 16 RIM-7 Sea Sparrow SAM or up to 64 RIM-162 Evolved sea sparrow SAM
CWIS:
2 x 21-cell Mark 49 RAM missile launchers, 42 RIM-116 Rolling airframe missiles (2 x 21)
Anti-ship missiles:
up to 8 x Mark 141 missile launchers (8 RGM-84 Harpoon anti ship missiles) (2 x 4)
Torpedo tubes:
4 x 12.75 inch (324mm) Mark 32 torpedo tubes (Mark 46 torpedoes) (2 x 2)
More Images
Spoiler
Sources
Spoiler
Brandenburg-class frigate - Wikipedia
Type 123 Brandenburg class Frigate German Navy Marine
https://www.navypedia.org/ships/germany/ger_es_brandenburg.htm
Image Sources