Sachsen-class frigate

Hessen on 11 April 2013
Class overview
Builders	Blohm + Voss Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Nordseewerke
Operators	German Navy
Preceded by	Brandenburg class
Succeeded by	Baden-Württemberg class
Cost	€700 million per unit
Built	1999–2006
In commission	2003–present
Planned	4
Completed	3
Cancelled	1
Active	3
General characteristics
Type	Frigate
Displacement	5,690 long tons (5,780 t) (Full load)
Length	143 m (469 ft 2 in)
Beam	17.44 m (57 ft 3 in)
Draft	6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Propulsion	CODAG (combined diesel and gas) 2 propeller shafts, controllable-pitch propellers 2 MTU V20 diesel engines, 7.4 MW each 1 General Electric LM2500 gas turbine
Speed	29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi)+ at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	230 crew + 13 aircrew
Sensors and processing systems	1 Thales Nederland SMART-L long-range air and surface surveillance radar (D band) 1 Thales Nederland APAR air and surface search, tracking and guidance radar (I band) 1 Thales Nederland Sirius IRST long-range infrared surveillance and tracking system (fitted for but not with) 2 STN Atlas 9600-M multi-function I/J band ARPA radars 1 STN Atlas MSP 500 electro-optical fire control system 1 STN Atlas DSQS-24B bow sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	1 FL 1800 S II ECM suite 6 Sippican Hycor SRBOC launcher
Armament	Naval guns: 1 OTO-Melara 76 mm dual-purpose gun 2 Mauser MLG 27 27 mm autocannons Anti-aircraft warfare: 32 Mk 41 VLS cells for 24 SM-2 Block IIIA and 32 RIM-162 ESSM (quad-packs per cell) surface-to-air missiles CIWS: 2 RAM launchers with 21 surface-to-air/CIWS-missiles each Anti-ship missiles: 2 quadruple Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers Anti-submarine warfare: 2 triple torpedo launchers with EuroTorp MU90 Impact torpedoes
Aircraft carried	2 Sea Lynx Mk.88A or 2 NH90 helicopters equipped with torpedoes, air-to-surface missiles Sea Skua, and/or heavy machine gun.

The F124 Sachsen class is the German Navy's latest class of air-defense frigates. The design of the hull is based on that of the F123 Brandenburg class but with enhanced stealth features designed to deceive an opponent's radar and acoustic sensors. The class incorporates an advanced multifunction radar APAR and a SMART-L long-range radar which is purported to be capable of detecting stealth aircraft and stealth missiles.

Although designated as frigates, they are comparable to destroyers in capability and were intended to replace the Navy's Lütjens class. They are similar to the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën class, in that both are based on the use of a common primary anti-air warfare system built around the APAR and SMART-L radars as well as the area-defence SM-2 Block IIIA and point-defence Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) surface-to-air missiles.

The German government contracted for three ships in June 1996 with an option on a fourth that was provisionally to have been named Thüringen, but the option for this fourth ship was not taken up. At €2.1 billion for the three ships, the class was one of the most expensive ship building programs of the German Navy.