Archive: News & technical articles

As a further milestone and at the same time an expression of Germany's growing commitment to international security and stability in the Indo-Pacific, the frigate "Baden-Württemberg" and the task force supplier "Frankfurt am Main" will set off for the Indo-Pacific on May 7th . While the “Bayern” was traveling there alone, two naval ships are now taking on the task of […]

Two years ago, Russia attacked Ukraine in violation of international law. With the counteroffensive that began in June 2023, Ukraine has not yet been able to achieve its goal of interrupting the land bridge to Crimea in the south, cutting the Russian supply lines and dividing the Russian forces in the Ukraine theater of war with an advance to the Sea of ​​Azov. […]

Ammunition that was discarded after the two world wars rots on the floor of the North and Baltic Seas. According to estimates, 1.6 million tons in the German parts of the North and Baltic Seas alone. These contaminated sites become a ticking time bomb, because the progressive corrosion causes harmful and toxic ingredients to enter the environment and thus [...]

The signatures were signed in Koblenz on June 19, 2020. DAMEN Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) and the Federal Office for Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr Equipment (BAAINBw) agreed to build the multi-purpose combat ship 180, in the Bundeswehr abbreviation “MKS 180”. The class, which has since been renamed F126, began construction on December 5, 2023 at the Peene shipyard in Wolgast [...]

Interview with Flotilla Admiral Andreas Czerwinski, head of the maritime department at BAAINBw ES&T: How is the implementation of the F123 modernization program currently going? Czerwinski: With the decision to extend the service life of the F123, four packages of measures were simultaneously commissioned to eliminate the obsolescence of the main sensors used so far, the deployment system and the relevant effectors. With the conclusion of the basic contract for the conversion measures in summer 2021 [...]

Department S is responsible for the procurement and use of naval ships and boats, naval-specific land, communications and training facilities and other naval-specific equipment. The current status of selected projects in the Maritime Department is presented below: Civilian deep-sea tugs as an interim solution Due to their age, the sea and recovery tugs of the classes 720 and 722 were [...]

The US Navy has begun searching for replacements for its manned and unmanned vertical take-off aircraft for naval vessels. The Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike) or FVL (MS) program aims to develop and procure a “Family of Systems” (FoS) comprising manned and unmanned aircraft to currently operate onboard combat vessels […]

In October of this year, two South Korean warships on their world tour - coming from Halifax, Canada - visited the Hanseatic city of Hamburg for two days. These were the helicopter training ship ROKS “Hansando” (ATH-81) and the task force supplier ROKS “Hwacheon” (AOE-59). In addition to the opportunity to view the ships from the Far East, another highlight of this visit was [...]

The Bundeswehr special fund was established by law in July 2022. In an initial economic plan, a total of 38 projects were listed in five dimensions, covering a financial volume of 100 billion euros. In December 2022, a new economic plan - heavily revised after criticism - was published for the first time in connection with the law on the determination [...]

Even if we don't report on it regularly and in detail, it doesn't mean that the Russian Navy has ceased to exist. Their position in the Black Sea is difficult. The involvement of units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the shelling of Ukraine occasionally becomes public, to which operations are currently limited. The Baltic Fleet makes here and there […]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already led to a change in NATO's defense concept and a reassessment of the principles of modern warfare. This reassessment takes into account the special situation of Ukraine, which is faced with an opponent that is significantly superior in manpower and equipment. NATO’s military strategy has […]

While individual shipyard groups dominate national naval shipbuilding in the large European countries, there are numerous players on the market in Germany. These are also organized privately and therefore, unlike Naval Group in France or Fincantieri in Italy, have to do without the protective hand and financial support of the state. However, a significant change is likely […]

The Bundeswehr currently operates three Class 423 fleet service boats. These were put into service at the end of the 1980s. They use the freedom of the high seas to collect information about areas of interest and conflicts in times of peace, crises and war. In this context, they make an indispensable contribution to the politically responsible decision-makers of the […]

The war in Ukraine shows that the battlefield is becoming more and more digital and the digital space is becoming a battlefield. The CIR inspector, Vice Admiral Thomas Daum, has overall responsibility for the cyber and information space (CIR) in the German armed forces. ES&T was able to question Admiral Daum about, among other things, his conclusions from the Ukraine war and the restructuring of his organizational area. […]

In its target vision for the years after 2035, the German Navy envisages large unmanned underwater vehicles to supplement its capabilities in underwater naval warfare. Analysts see the increasing spread of combat-capable unmanned underwater vehicles as the possibility of changing the global balance of sea power. Reason to take a closer look at these means of naval warfare and to introduce some systems. Vehicles or platforms, […]

With the training of the first course participants starting in mid-March, the introduction of 3D printing in the Navy has overcome another hurdle. The first printers are being added to the fleet. As the Navy reports on its website, the 1st Corvette Squadron, the 1st Submarine Squadron, the task force suppliers “Bonn” and “Frankfurt am Main” as well as technical operational support from all […]

The sea doesn't separate, it connects. Around 80 percent of the world's population lives on the sea coast or a maximum of 100 kilometers away. Most of the world's metropolitan areas are also located near the sea. As this trend toward “littoralization” continues, amphibious operations capability will continue to grow in importance. Amphibious operations should generally […]

An announcement published on the online platform for public procurement, TED, in mid-July shows that the project to salvage and destroy old ammunition in the North and Baltic Seas is gaining momentum - apparently at the same pace as Germany. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke announced an immediate program at a kick-off conference on February 17, 2023 and referred to the […]

Interview with Peter Sandwall, State Secretary to the Swedish Defense Minister ES&T: What practical consequences will Sweden's foreseeable accession to NATO have for the Swedish armed forces? Sandwall: Joining NATO obviously has many practical aspects and consequences. I would particularly like to emphasize that Sweden will be fully included in the Alliance's operational planning after accession. This is for Sweden […]

The German Navy's target picture from March calls for anti-aircraft ships capable of defending against ballistic and hypersonic missiles from the mid-2030s. Six F127 frigates are planned – one more than in older planning ideas (Navy 2031). As units specialized in Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), they form six ASW units (Anti-Submarine Warfare), including the target image [...]

So far, submarines have been defenseless against the threat of submarine-hunting helicopters. To change this, the two German companies Diehl and thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (tkMS) have been working on the IDAS (Interactive Defense and Attack System for Submarines) project for several years and have founded the IDAS Consortium for this purpose. This is intended to enable submariners to […]