Multipurpose combat ship 180
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The multi-purpose combat ship 180 (MKS 180) (initially referred to as the medium surface combat unit (MÜKE) or K131, newer sources speak of multi-purpose frigates of the class F126) is an armaments project of the German Navy . Around 5.27 billion euros are budgeted for the procurement of four ships, which makes the project the largest naval contract of its kind in the history of the Bundeswehr.
The warships are supposed to be larger than the frigates of the Sachsen- class and to be adaptable to different types of missions thanks to exchangeable mission modules. They should be able to fight targets in the air, above and below water and to conduct land missions. The Bundeswehr states a crew strength of up to 180.
"MKS 180" is to be built under the leadership of the Damen Shipyards Group at Blohm + Voss in Hamburg.
Planning and construction
At the beginning of 2009, the first considerations about a future surface combat ship began. Supported by project-independent studies, a plan “Operative Requirements K131” was drawn up for a type of ship to complement the K130 corvette , which was to be put into service at least 10 years later and to be equipped for a range of applications by 2050. The related studies show, however, that the modular design requires a ship size that is above a corvette-typical size. The crew strength of the ship was set in the range of 100 people. Based on the modular approach, it was decided to coined the term multi-purpose combat ship for the new type of ship to be developed. With the renaming, the K131 thought paper on the MKS 180 capability profile - operational requirements was updated. This capability profile provides the framework for the functional requirements for the MKS 180.
The planned number of units was reduced from eight to six as part of the realignment of the Bundeswehr . In June 2015, the decision was made to tender for the procurement of four units, which are to be made available to the Navy successively from 2023. The costs are estimated at around 4 billion euros. Three consortia with German participation took part in the tender. According to the planning at the time, the contract should be awarded after the 2017 federal election . In 2017, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen decided to speed up the procurement of the fifth and sixth ship, initially planned for the period after 2030. After the BAAINBw had excluded the consortium consisting of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Lürssen from the proceedings in March 2018 , two groups of bidders remained around the Dutch Damen Shipyards Group and the ship manufacturer German Naval Yards . After the award process for this largest and for the first time Europe-wide tender for the German Navy began in 2018, improvements had to be made during the ongoing process, as the ship needed an upgrade in order to be equipped against cyberattacks . This made procurement more expensive. In January 2020, the Ministry of Defense announced that the MKS 180 would be built under Dutch leadership at Blohm + Voss in Hamburg. The Damen Shipyards Group in the Netherlands emerged as the winner from the tender to build the ship. Even German Naval Yards in Kiel with Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems as a subcontractor had applied for the job.
In June 2020, the budget committee of the Bundestag approved the procurement of four MKS 180 with two mission modules “submarine combat” and two “custody” modules. Including the armament, around 6 billion euros were estimated for this. The contract also includes a non-binding option for two further units.
Mission concept
In contrast to the frigate 125 , a presumably more powerful and inexpensive ship with a relatively large design scenario for three-dimensional naval warfare and asymmetrical conflicts is procured under the premise that major projects take 10 to 15 years to be implemented and that operational scenarios, threats and tasks change so rapidly would change that ongoing armaments projects could not react to it. Since a design of the platform for all conceivable threat scenarios is not feasible, the capabilities of future task forces would have to be put together in a modular manner with little effort, based on location and needs, and flexibly adapted before and during the deployment. The focus of the MKS 180 is on:
- Monitoring and control of spaces and connecting lines to the water (e.g. Operation Atalanta )
- Implementation of embargo measures (e.g .: Operation Sharp Guard )
- National risk prevention through evacuation operations
Specifically, these requirements mean that in addition to self-protection, the surveillance of the sea area, the interception of sea targets and the execution of investigations (e.g. of suspicious merchant ships) in the corresponding mandated operations must be design-determining core capabilities of the MKS 180. In order to avoid cost escalation, the ships should be advertised as Design To Cost or Design To Budget . The target price was given in 2011 as 55% of the final price of an F125.
In order not only to be able to fight pirates and other asymmetrical threats with a ship that is expected to have a displacement of 5000 t, in contrast to the F125, mission modules can be taken on board. These standardized equipment and personnel packages are intended to adapt the ship flexibly to a specific order without major technical and time-consuming effort. To embark and operate these mission modules, storage space, an embarkation contingent of 70 soldiers, a number of free workstations in the operations center as well as the corresponding reserves and interfaces for air conditioning / ventilation, electricity, internal and external communication are required on board. In contrast to systems that are permanently installed, mission modules that are currently not required for a mission can be repaired and maintained independently of their carrier ship. In use, it is conceivable that the carrier platform will continue to set sail, temporarily foregoing the specific capability, while the module is being repaired in a port.
Technical details and tender
Since the end of 2011, a number of tenders have been carried out in which German shipyards could submit their concepts. Usually two or three concepts per supplier were required, with alternative hull shapes etc.
The German Navy places the following requirements on the ship:
- Can be used worldwide (high seas, marginal seas, coastal apron)
- Use in all climatic zones (arctic and tropical waters)
- Continuous maximum speed of over 26 knots, continuous march 18 knots to swell 4
- Driving range 4000 nm at 18 kn without additional supply
- Sea endurance 21 days
- Combined Anti-Missile Defense (ASMD) , Anti Air Warfare (AAW) and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) capability up to the outer limit of the immediate area through a mix of guns (medium multi-purpose gun against sea and air targets, two light guns against sea and air targets, two RAM blocks 2 ), missiles and decoys (two multifunctional launchers ) with a "threat-appropriate detection unit" to cover the entire EM spectrum (radar, IR, laser)
- precise, graduated and selective combat against sea targets in the medium range (e.g. with an on-board helicopter)
- medium anti-ship missile
- On-board gun in 127 mm caliber
- medium anti-aircraft missile ESSM with> 50 km range
- EloUM capability from 0.5 to 40 GHz
- Detection of warfare agents
- Protection of ammunition facilities, ship command areas and operations center against handgun fire, caliber 12.7 mm hard core
- Central camera surveillance for the upper deck and side walls in the port
- Access control options (PIN / chip card) on all bulkheads / hatches that can be opened from the outside
- Day and night recording option for organic UAV / on-board helicopters even under meteorological boundary conditions
The requirements for a two-year period of use (intensive use) combined with a low crew size (up to 140 people + 70 people embarkation capacity) require that all systems have a high level of stability with the greatest possible maintenance intervals. The focus here is on reducing life cycle costs to an absolutely necessary level. This results in certain requirements:
- Intensive use with multiple crew model, crew changes every four months within 96 hours
- Duration of operation and driving profile as in frigate 125
- Comprehensive repair functions such as online diagnostics with home workshops (telemaintenance) and module replacement on the level of material maintenance 3 by the crew in systems for driveability and self-protection
- Competence for sea supply
- Refueling and defuelling systems for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) , UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle), UPS (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) and helicopters
- Space for 20 ft containers and for the storage of equipment for the operational components
- Medical service capacity for general medical and emergency medical care, ship hospital
- Personnel-efficient ship control (including ship operating systems) and damage coordination and implementation (platform automation) with additional monitoring options on the bridge
- Flight deck for on-board helicopters with a take-off weight of up to 15 t, hangar with facilities for flight operations, maintenance and repair of one on-board helicopter and two UAVs
The operational requirements for the MKS 180 provided for the following mission modules at the end of 2013, with the focus on underwater combat:
- Systems for extended reconnaissance using the ship's own EloUM systems ( Signals Intelligence )
- Systems for target and effective clarification against submarines, specifically a tow sonar
- Systems for underwater reconnaissance and control of mines and explosive devices, specifically a mine-hunting drone
- mobile diving pressure chamber
- Systems for the detection of divers and combat swimmers
To set up and operate the mission modules and 20 ft containers , the ship needs prepared parking spaces for payload with corresponding supply connections for complete technical integration as well as night and all-weather access and additional workstations on board, which must be taken into account in the design of the ship. The on-board deployment components also include two rigid inflatable boats with a continuous maximum speed of over 35 kn and two launching devices. They should give the ship the ability to deploy two special forces teams at the same time.
literature
- Christian Peters: Multipurpose combat ship 180 - the future "Swiss Army Knife" of the German Navy. In: MarineForum. 10-2011, pp. 18-27 ( online ( memento of July 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ); PDF).
- Dieter Stockfisch: Multi-purpose combat ship class 180. Capability profile and operational requirements. In: Europäische Sicherheit & Technik, 7/2012, pp. 70–74.
- Peter Wiemann: Demands of the Navy on the multi-purpose combat ship class 180. In: MarineForum. 11-2013, pp. 18-25 ( online PDF; 852 kB).
- Hans Josef Sperber: Multipurpose combat ship class 180. In: MarineForum. 11-2014, pp. 14-16 ( online PDF; 1 MB).
- Karl-Heinz high - rise multi - purpose combat ship class 180. Online version of the Hansa article of the same name about the planning of the multi-purpose combat ship class 180 on the STG naval consultation day. Retrieved Jan 13, 2020
Web links
- Explanation: The multi-purpose combat ship 180 on the Bundeswehr website
Individual evidence
- ↑ nn In: European security and technology . Mittler, January 2016, p. 85-87 .
- ^ Inspector of the Navy: Annual Marine Directive 2008. German Navy, December 2007, accessed on May 28, 2016 (pages of the German Navy Archive).
- ↑ STG-Marine consultation day, planning of the "multipurpose combat ship 180" private website |
- ↑ a b Navy: Dutch Damen-Werft receives contract for multi-purpose combat ship. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Hans Josef Sperber: Multi-purpose combat ship class 180. (PDF) In: MarineForum 11-2014. Pp. 14–16 , accessed on May 28, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c Stefan Rentzsch: Overview: The multi-purpose combat ship 180 - the all-rounder. Bundeswehr, June 15, 2015, accessed on August 19, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e Peter Wiemann: Demands of the Navy on the multi-purpose combat ship class 180. (PDF) In: MarineForum 11-2013. Retrieved May 28, 2016 .
- ^ Bettina Berg: Minister de Maizière approves conversion. Federal Ministry of Defense, October 21, 2011, accessed on May 28, 2016 .
- ↑ BT-Drs. 17/2686
- ↑ Navy receives new combat ships. In: time online. June 10, 2015, accessed May 28, 2016 .
- ↑ Olaf Preuß: Three bidders want the billion dollar contract from the Navy. Die Welt, May 25, 2016, accessed September 27, 2016 .
- ↑ Reuters : Von der Leyen wants additional naval ships. In: handelsblatt.com. February 13, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Gerhard Hegmann: Germany makes an example of the super warship. Die Welt, March 2, 2018, accessed March 2, 2018 .
- ↑ Major order from the Navy: Kiel shipyard goes away empty-handed. ndr, January 14, 2020, accessed January 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Bundestag budget committee approves new warships MKS180. Thomas Wiegold, June 17, 2020, accessed on June 18, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c Christian Peters: Multipurpose combat ship 180 (MKS 180). ( Memento of July 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: MarineForum 10-2011.
- ↑ a b c d e Dieter Stockfisch: Skill profile and operational requirements. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Europäische Sicherheit & Technik. July 2012, p. 70 ff , archived from the original on January 3, 2014 ; accessed on February 6, 2015 .
- ↑ Intensive use. In: Marine Glossary. German Maritime Institute, accessed on September 12, 2017 (definition).
- ↑ Multi-crew model. In: Marine Glossary. German Maritime Institute, accessed on September 12, 2017 (definition).