2023-12-15 10:43:00
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New German warships are to take action against Houthi rebel drones in the Red Sea. But their air defense systems are already outdated.
Tel Aviv/Berlin – Amid increasing numbers of attacks by Houthi rebel combat drones on military and merchant ships in the Red Sea, the USA is calling for a response. A proposed naval alliance in the war in Israel would ensure the protection of maritime traffic. Boris Pistorius (SPD), the German defense minister, was asked to involve the Bundeswehr in the mission.
However, this could be more difficult than originally thought. The Welt reports that when developing new naval ships, long-range air defense was omitted for cost reasons. The F125 type frigate “Baden-Württemberg” is designed only for peacekeeping missions and is therefore only used for self-defense.
German warships do not meet NATO standards
German naval ships of the F125 series are actually already on their way to the Red Sea. But they are hardly suitable for fighting the Houthi rebels’ drones. Although the new ships have air defense systems, these are only sufficient for targets at a maximum distance of ten kilometers.
That’s too short to shoot down enemy drones. The NATO standard for comparable ships is missiles with a range of 50 to 100 kilometers. Given the rebels’ ability to carry out precise missile attacks on ships with reconnaissance drones, the Bundeswehr frigate is already outdated. The F125 ships have only been in use since October 2023. The navy will now have to resort to old warship models to take action against the Houthi rebels.
Just finished – and already out of date. The F125 frigate is powerless against Houthi drones. © picture alliance/dpa | Markus Scholz
The Bundeswehr will probably have to resort to old frigates
The F123 and F124 frigates are currently being modernized. However, the work is extremely complex because about five years ago a rocket completely burned out the tube on the frigate F124 “Sachsen” when it failed to launch. After the modernizations, the ships could have missile defense systems with sufficient range, reports Welt.
In total, the German Navy only has two suitable warships available for use in the Red Sea. The new F125 frigates are scheduled to be gradually replaced by new models in the mid-2030s. But that could take a while. The first deliveries of the successor ships to the F126 are not planned until 2028. (pediatric)
Machine assistance was used for this article written by the editorial team. The article was carefully checked by volunteer Nils Hinsberger before publication.
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