{"id":52974,"date":"2026-01-29T08:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T07:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/?p=52974"},"modified":"2026-02-02T16:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:28:11","slug":"f126-alternative-platforms-project-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/f126-alternative-plattformen-projektstand\/","title":{"rendered":"F126 - and what next?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Large fleet construction: double strategy decided for frigate programme<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday - on 28 January 2026 - the Defence Committee met in Berlin. After a number of reports on the current situation, agenda item 7 (BMF submissions) also included agenda items relating to the German Navy's F126 frigate project. It was about nothing less than the decision to continue the stalled F126 frigate programme or to identify an alternative platform. A report from the \"Federal Ministry of Defence on the procurement of frigates on the basis of alternative platforms.\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"F126
F126 - turbulent frigate project of the German Navy. Graphic: Ladies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prior to this, however NVL B.V. & Co. KG<\/b> (NVL) attracted attention with a press release, because - according to the text - they are working on \"taking over the F126 project as general contractor in a few weeks\". The team has succeeded in \"untying the Gordian knot and successfully transferring the design data of the Dutch shipbuilder DAMEN into its own system\". This has \"closed the interface between design and production\". <\/strong>Tim Wagner, CEO of NVL, commented: \"This was a real challenge and probably the most critical milestone for a potential takeover.\" It is learnt that the proximity in time to the parliamentary referral was purely coincidental and not - as one might assume - premeditated. The fact that work is already in full swing fits in with this.<\/p>\n

\"Successful
Successful model for 25 years: MEKO A-200-SAN-7 for South Africa. Photo: TKMS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the same day, the Budget Committee approved a preliminary contract with TKMS for the Procurement of probably four MEKO A-200 class frigates<\/strong>. 50 million was released to secure production slots in the shipyards and order material with long delivery times. The aim is to have the first ship delivered by the end of 2029. In addition, two freezes in the defence budget in connection with the F126 project were released. This sends out a political signal: the new technical start is feasible. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is said to have agreed to this: \"We are not giving up on the F126. But we want to run on two tracks.<\/strong>\"<\/p>\n

\"F126
F126 - side view. Graphic: Ladies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although this is progress, the F126 programme is still almost two years behind schedule. The MEKO A-200 platform under discussion is a way out: it is considered available, industrially manageable and carries a lower development risk. At the same time, the investments in the F126 programme are \"saved\", as it would be politically and financially almost impossible to justify discontinuing it. According to our calculations, around 1.8 billion euros have already been invested, capabilities have been planned and industrial commitments have been made. The suppliers continue to fulfil their contractual obligations. Despite its fragility, the chosen course - a technical restart while simultaneously preparing an alternative solution - can be rationally justified. In terms of timing, the plan is ambitious; \"well-informed circles\" have rumoured that contracts are to be signed as early as spring. Who builds what is currently purely speculative, but the shipyard capacities in Germany will all be needed!<\/p>\n

A coexistence of F126 and MEKO A-200 plus F127?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three large surface combatant projects are accessing limited resources in parallel: Design, shipyard capacities, supply chains and acceptance processes - all on one timeline and resource base. The shipyard and personnel issue becomes challenging: Are there enough engineers, skilled workers and dock space for three programmes?\u00a0<\/strong>The navy already has personnel problems today. Recruitment is becoming a limiting factor, regardless of the type of ship. One solution is being considered behind the scenes: a proportionate Phasing out of the corvettes class 130<\/strong> would free up logistics and personnel capacities. The MEKO as a replacement for the first batch of 130, so to speak, is not all that naval shipbuilding will have to and want to do, as further units are possible in the derivation of requirements: three instead of two civilian-crewed fuel supply vessels, four instead of three fleet service boats are conceivable. And no decision has yet been made about the successors to the tenders and minesweepers.<\/p>\n

We will report back.<\/p>\n

\"When
When everything still seemed fine - F126 in front of a Hamburg backdrop. Graphic: Ladies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Text: Schl\u00fcter \/ Mergener \/ Stephenson<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Large fleet construction: double strategy decided for frigate programme<\/p>\n

Yesterday - on 28 January 2026 - the Defence Committee met in Berlin. After a number of reports on the current situation, agenda item 7 (BMF submissions) also included items relating to the German Navy's F126 frigate project. It was about nothing less than the decision to continue the stalled F 126 frigate programme or to present an alternative platform. To this end, a report was expected from the \"Federal Ministry of Defence on the procurement of frigates based on alternative platforms.\"<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":52987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42,486,49,50,51],"tags":[11844,193,913,182,2098,1337,1809,3699,9664,11843,3138,2101,9194,1147,2802,7537],"class_list":["post-52974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-headlines","category-schiffsbau-news","category-sicherheitspolitik-news","category-streitkraefte-news","tag-alternativplattform","tag-bundeswehr","tag-damen","tag-deutsche-marine","tag-f126","tag-fregatte-126","tag-german-naval-yards","tag-korvette-130","tag-marinepolitik","tag-meko-a-200","tag-nvl","tag-peene-werft","tag-ruestungsbeschaffung","tag-schiffbau","tag-sondervermoegen","tag-verteidigungsausschuss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52974"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53004,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52974\/revisions\/53004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}