Egypt has ordered four identical frigates
thyssenkrupp Marine Systems delivered the third MEKO A-200 EN frigate, “Al-Qadeer”, to the Egyptian Navy earlier this month.
Egypt has ordered four identical frigates. Three of them were constructed in Germany, and the fourth ship is being built by the Alexandria shipyard in Egypt. The contract to build them was signed in September 2018.
The frigates’ design is based on the MEKO family of warships. These are modular and flexible vessels which allow different navies to customise them to meet their needs. The 3700-ton frigates are 121 meters long, and have a beam of some 16.3 meters. They are powered by the CODAG-WARP system, two CPP propeller shafts driven by cross-connectable diesel engines, plus a centre-line gas turbine-driven water jet. The ship has a top speed of 28 knots.
The class will be armed with a Leonardo 127/64 LW 127 mm main gun (possibly with VULCANO ammunition), 16x MM-40 Exocet block three anti-ship missiles, 32x VLS for MBDA VL MICA NG surface-to-air missiles. In addition, there will be 2×2 MU90 Eurotorp torpedoes for ASW targets.
Onboard sensors include Thales NS110 Air and Surface surveillance radar, Thales STIR fire control radar, Thales Mirador optronic director, Atlas Elektronik hull-mounted sonar, and a low-frequency towed array sonar.
Oliver Burkhard, CEO of thyssenKrupp Marine Systems, highlighted: “Just six months after the handover of the second frigate, ‘ Al Qahhar, another state-of-the-art ship was successfully delivered to the Egyptian Navy today. The handover marks the official completion of construction of the ships in Germany, all in record time. The fourth frigate will be completed at Alexandria Shipyard in close cooperation with thyssenKrupp Marine Systems.”
Production work on ” Al-Qadeer” began with the first steel cutting in autumn 2020, followed by keel laying in March 2021, launching in April 2022, and naming in October 2022. In a few days, “Al-Quadeer” will set sail for Alexandria, Egypt.
Vice Admiral Ashraf Ibrahim Atwa, Commander in Chief of the Egyptian Navy, said: “Within only 14 months, the Egyptian Navy received the three MEKO® A-200 Frigates Al-Aziz, Al Qahhar, and Al-Qader. These repeated visits for the handovers are the actual proof of the extent of cooperation and friendship between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Federal Republic of Germany. As much the Egyptian Navy is proud to acquire the MEKO® A-200 frigates, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems must also be proud for building them.
The first vessel of the class, Al-Aziz, was delivered in October and commissioned in Egypt in November 2022. The second frigate of the course, Al Qahhar, was commissioned in May 2023.
