Braunschweig class corvette

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Corvette Magdeburg (F 261)
Class overview
Operators:	German Navy
Built:	2004–2007
In commission:	2008–
Planned:	10
Completed:	5
Active:	5
General characteristics
Type:	Corvette
Displacement:	1,840 tonnes (1,810 long tons)
Length:	89.12 m (292 ft 5 in)
Beam:	13.28 m (43 ft 7 in)
Draft:	3.4 m (11 ft 2 in)
Speed:	26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Range:	4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)[1]
Endurance:	7 days; 21 days with tender
Complement:	65 : 1 commander, 10 officers, 16 chief petty officers, 38 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems:	• TRS-3D multifunction radar • 2 navigation radars • MSSR 2000 i IFF system • MIRADOR electro-optical sensors • UL 5000 K ESM suite • Link 11 and Link 16 communications
Electronic warfare and decoys:	• 2 × TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) decoy launcher • UL 5000 K ECM suite
Armament:	• 1 × Otobreda 76 mm gun • 2 × MLG 27 mm autocannons • 2 × 21-cell RAM launcher • 2 × 2-cell launcher with RBS-15 Mk.3 surface-to-surface missiles • Mine laying capability

The K130 Braunschweig class (sometimes Korvette 130) is Germany's newest class of ocean-going corvettes. They supplement the Gepard class fast attack craft that are currently used but not particularly well suited for this mission. For administrative purposes these craft are classified as "boats" instead of "ships", and their commander is ranked as a company commander, not as a battalion commander.

[edit] Technical details

They feature reduced radar and infrared signature ("stealth" beyond the Sachsen class frigate) and should have been equipped with two helicopter UAVs for remote sensing. The UAV program has been delayed indefinitely, but the Braunschweig will be fitted with a small hangar and a helicopter pad nonetheless. The UAV is still planned and will probably be developed jointly by the German Navy and the German Army. The hangar is too small for standard helicopters, but the pad is large enough for Sea Kings, Lynx or MH-90s, the helicopters of the German Navy.

The planned program of the Polyphem missile system - optical fiber-guided missiles with a range of 60 km - was canceled in 2003. Instead, the RBS 15 is mounted. While the RBS15 has a much greater range (200 km, after upgrade up to 400 km) it lacks the ECM-resistant video feedback of the Polyphem and is also just too large (and too expensive) for most targets.

The German Navy is seeking a replacement for the Polyphem missile and also has ordered the RBS 15 Mk. 4 in advance, which will be a future development of the Mk. 3 with increased range and a dual seeker.

[edit] Ship list

The ships are not actually built at a single shipyard. Sections are constructed at different locations at the same time and later married. The table lists the yard where the keel was officially laid down in a ceremony.

The five ships will form the Korvettengeschwader (corvette squadron) of the Einsatzflotille 1 (Flotilla 1) and their home port will be Warnemünde on the Baltic Sea.

A second batch with at least five ships (probably with varying equipment and armament) is planned from 2008 on.

[edit] Images

Corvette Braunschweig (F 260)

Corvette Oldenburg (F 263)

[edit] See also

• Sea Shadow (IX-529)  United States
• USS Independence (LCS-2)  United States
• USS Freedom (LCS-1)  United States
• Sea Fighter  United States
• La Fayette class frigate  France
• Visby class corvette  Sweden
• F125 class frigate  Germany
• Sachsen class frigate  Germany

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Braunschweig class

• Korvette Braunschweig-Klasse @ Marine (official homepage of the German Navy)