Germany Plans €5.6B Expansion of MEKO A-200 Fleet to Eight Frigates

Germany is preparing to acquire four additional MEKO A-200 DEU frigates from TKMS for approximately €5.6 billion, potentially doubling the German Navy’s planned fleet of the new warships from four to eight.

The proposal is contained in a German Finance Ministry document prepared for the Bundestag’s Budget Committee and seen by Reuters. Parliamentary approval is expected on October 8. 

If approved, the new package would represent the second tranche of Germany’s MEKO A-200 DEU program.

The German Navy already has four ships of the type on order. The Bundestag’s Budget Committee approved that initial procurement in July, and TKMS subsequently confirmed that the construction contract had been signed with an option covering four additional vessels. 

The newly proposed acquisition would exercise that expansion path and bring the program to eight frigates with a combined value of approximately €11.6 billion, according to the Finance Ministry document. 

€5.3 billion for ship construction

Of the approximately €5.6 billion being requested for the additional four vessels, around €5.3 billion would cover construction, while the remaining funding would provide project support and financial reserves.

Construction of the second tranche is expected to be completed by 2035.

Germany also expects the four additional frigates to generate approximately €1.55 billion in operating costs through 2045, according to the document. 

The first four MEKO A-200 DEU frigates are scheduled to begin entering service from 2029.

TKMS describes the ships as particularly focused on strengthening the German Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capability. When the original four-ship procurement was approved in July, the company described it as the largest surface-vessel order in its history. 

Sweden’s Saab has already received an approximately SEK 8.7 billion contract from TKMS to equip the first four vessels with combat systems, sensors and composite superstructures.

The package includes the 9LV combat management and fire-control system, Sea Giraffe 4A Fixed Face long-range radar, Sea Giraffe 1X radar and passive sensors. Saab’s contract also contains an option covering additional frigates. 

Germany reshapes frigate procurement

The expansion comes as Berlin restructures its surface-fleet modernization following the cancellation of the troubled F126 frigate program.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius scrapped the F126 project with Dutch shipbuilder Damen after delays and rising costs. Germany subsequently accelerated the MEKO A-200 DEU program as a more rapidly available solution for meeting NATO anti-submarine warfare requirements.

The cancelled F126 program has also triggered a contractual dispute. Germany’s Defense Ministry said on October 5 that it considers approximately €4.7 billion in compensation claims connected with the cancellation to be unfounded. 

The four additional MEKO A-200 frigates, however, are not yet formally ordered. The October 6 document represents a funding proposal submitted for parliamentary approval. A final procurement decision still requires the Bundestag Budget Committee to authorize the expenditure.