German Task Group visited Istanbul

On the occasion of the visit FGS  Brandenburg to Istanbul at 28 May 2010,  The Ambassador of Federal Republic of Germany Mr. Eckart Cuntz, Commander of FGS Brandenburg Torsten Ites, Turkish Military officers, Turkish Defence Industry representatives, German Defence companies and other distinguished guests presented.

 

Following the speeches, participates had a tour around the ship and were furnished with information on German naval ship design and up-to-date applications of maritime technology.

 

Jointly organized by Defence Attache Staff of German Embassy , The German Navy and the following German Naval Industries , the event provided opportunity to inform on latest products and capabilities of the German Naval Industry whereby presented with the stands in the frigate. The representatives of  Aeromatime, Atlas Elektronik, Diehl Defence, Fr. Lürssen Werft, MTU Propulsion, Noske- Kaeser, Rheinmetall Defence, Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems AG: HDW, Blohm& Voss Nordseewerke took place in the event and met with Turkish Military officials and Turkish Defence Industry representatives.

 

On an annual basis, the German Task Group 501.01 participates in an exercise conducted by the German Navy in order to improve the training standard of its units and embarked cadets from the Naval Academy in Mürwik. Another important aim is to represent the German Navy to the countries visited during this training cruise. During the 2010 cruise, the Commander of the German Task Group, Commander s.g. Marco con Kölln, will lead this task group over a period of nearly five months, visiting Europe, Africa and the Middle East with 15   port visits in 11 countries covering Germany, Turkey, Spain, Namibia, South Africa, Ghana, Portugal, Italy, Crete, Israel, Egypt, Ukraine. Beyond participation in bi-national exercise GOOD HOPE IV with the South African Navy, the task group is operating in NATO Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR in an effort to strengthen international security and relationships.

 

The F123 Brandenburg class is a class of German frigates. They were ordered by the German Navy in June 1989 and commissioned between 1994 and 1996 to replace Hamburg class destroyers. These frigates are primarily tasked with anti-submarine warfare, but they also contribute to anti-air defence, the tactical command of group forces and surface operations. Their design includes stealth characteristics.

Currently the F123 class is being upgraded under the auspices of the Fähigkeitsanpassung FüWES (FAF) project. The primary component being upgraded under this program is the Combat Management System, for which a version of the Thales Nederland TACTICOS system will be used. It is also upgrade to EADS IFF MSSR 2000 I Secondary radar system.

 

 

Builders:	Blohm + Voss, Howaldtswerke, Nordseewerke, Bremer Vulkan
Operators:	German Navy
Preceded by:	Hamburg class destroyer
Completed:	4
Active:	Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Bayern, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

 

 

 

Displacement:	4,900 tonnes
Length:	138.9m
Beam:	16.7m
Draft:	6.8m
Propulsion:	CODOG (combined diesel or gas) 2 propeller shafts, controllable pitch propellers 2 MTU 20V 956 TB92 diesel-engines, 8.14 MW each 2 General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 38 MW each 2 Renk BGS 178 Lo gearboxes
Speed:	29 knots
Range:	4000+ nautical miles at 18 kts
Complement:	212 (23 officiers) crew and 19 aircrew
Sensors and processing systems:	1 x Thales LW08 air search D band radar 1 x Thales SMART-S air/surface surveillance F band radar 2 x Thales STIR 180 fire-control radar 2 x Raytheon Redpath I band navigation radar 1 x STN Atlas DSQS-23BZ hull-mounted sonar 1 x STN Atlas LFASS towed array sonar to be fitted
Electronic warfare and decoys:	1x  EADS FL 1800S ECM suite 2 x OTO-Melara SCLAR launcher 4 x TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) decoy launcher (currently under procurement)
Armament:	1x Mk 41 Mod 3 vertical launch system, 16 cells Seasparrow surface-to-air missiles (ESSM planned) 2 x Mk 49 launcher with 21 RAM surface-to-air/CIWS-missiles each 4 x MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles to be replaced by RBS 15 Mk. 3 surface-to-surface missiles. 1 x  OTO-Melara 76 mm/62Mk-75 dual-purpose gun 2 x  Rheinmetall Rh202 autocannons to be replaced by (or already replaced with) MLG 27 27 mm autocannons 4 x  324 mm torpedo tubes, Mk46 Mod 2 torpedoes
Aircraft carried:	2 Sea Lynx Mk.88A helicopters equipped with torpedoes, air-to-surface missiles Sea Skua, and/or heavy machine gun.