''Emden'' (F266) is the seventh ship of the ''Braunschweig''-class

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

of the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

Developments

The K130 ''Braunschweig'' class (sometimes Korvette 130) is

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's newest

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

of ocean-going

s. Five ships have replaced the of the

. They feature reduced radar and infrared signatures ("

stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology ** Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Ste ...

" beyond the s) and will be equipped with two helicopter

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for

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. Recently, the

ordered a first batch of two UMS Skeldar V-200 systems for the use on the ''Braunschweig''-class corvettes. The hangar is too small for standard helicopters, but the pad is large enough for Sea Kings,

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

, or NH-90s, the helicopters of the German Navy. The German Navy has ordered the RBS-15 Mk4 in advance, which will be a future development of the Mk3 with increased range —— and a dual seeker for increased resistance to electronic countermeasures. The RBS-15 Mk3 has the capability to engage land targets. In October 2016 it was announced that a second batch of five more corvettes is to be procured from 2022 to 2025. The decision was in response to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

requirements expecting Germany to provide a total of four corvettes at the highest readiness level for

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operations by 2018, and with only five corvettes just two can be provided. In September 2017, the German Navy commissioned the construction of five more corvettes in a consortium of North German shipyards.

Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradin ...

will be the main contractor in the production of the vessels. The contract is worth around 2 billion euros. In April 2018, the German government announced the specific arrangements under which the five new K130s would be built.

Construction and career

''Emden'''s construction started in late 2019 and later laid down on 30 January 2020 by Lürssen-Werft in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

. Her forecastle was built by

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and towed to Bremen to be assembled. She had been expected to be commissioned in 2025. However, in September 2022 it was reported that increasing difficulties in integrating the command and control systems for the Batch 2 ships had resulted in a cost growth of 401 million Euros and at least a two year delay for the completion of the lead Batch 2 vessel, and potentially cascading delays for the next two ships in the Batch 2 program (including ''Emden'') as well. On 13 October 2020, she started being towed to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

for assembly with her aft section. She arrived on 17 at Hamburg and on 21 of the same month her assembly started to take place. In early January 2025, dozens of kilograms of metal shavings were discovered in the gearbox of the ship. The presence of the shavings is suspected as sabotage. The discovery of the shavings occurred during an inspection prior to the ship's maiden voyage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emden (F266) Corvettes Stealth ships Braunschweig-class corvettes