The federal government will order four more frigates from TKMS

The navy is to get four more combat ships for submarine hunting worth 5.3 billion euros. The Bundestag's budget committee, which is responsible for approving large armaments projects, has approved the procurement of four additional Meko A-200 frigates from the Kiel naval shipbuilder TKMS, the Federal Ministry of Defense announced.

The committee had already given its approval for the procurement of the first four ships of this type in July. “This will enable the German Navy to fulfill its core mission of sea-based submarine hunting and thus also our NATO obligations as quickly as possible,” it said at the time. A total of eight identical Meko frigates would now be procured.

It is therefore promised that the first ship will be handed over to the Navy in 2029. With sea-based submarine hunting, this will make an important contribution to defense and deterrence in the North and Baltic Seas as well as in the Atlantic and in the far north. According to TKMS, the further units are to follow according to current planning with a tight delivery cycle.

The procurement price for the first four combat ships was given at around 6.3 billion euros, and for the four others at 5.3 billion euros. Armament investments are subject to political control. Bundeswehr procurements that cost 25 million euros or more must be approved by the Budget Committee, as stipulated in the Federal Budget Regulations.

The Kiel shipyard spoke of the largest surface order in the history of TKMS. “The budget committee’s decision is a strong signal of trust for us,” said TKMS boss Oliver Burkhard. The company made advance payments for the construction of the ships. “Now we can continue the series quickly and thus make an important contribution to closing an impending capability gap in the German Navy as quickly as possible.”

In June, the Federal Ministry of Defense stopped the procurement of the F126 frigates. Since being awarded the contract as general contractor in 2020, the Dutch naval shipyard Damen Naval has not been able to progress the construction of the F126 in a timely manner with its German partner shipyards - including Blohm+Voss in Hamburg.

At the end of 2025, the Federal Ministry of Defense withdrew the contract from Damen Naval as general contractor. The Lürssen naval division NVL should try to build the F126 instead. Since March, NVL has been part of the largest German arms company Rheinmetall.

This summer it was clear that six F126s - including the around 2.3 billion euros already invested - would cost up to 18 billion euros. Delivery to the German Navy could probably have started in 2032 at the earliest. The Federal Ministry of Defense therefore decided to switch to eight of the significantly smaller but also cheaper Meko A-200s. Damen Naval is now demanding 4.7 billion euros in damages from the federal government - represented by former CSU politician Peter Gauweiler as a lawyer.