Watch the German Navy’s first F 125 frigate fire its guns

FGS Baden-Württemberg, the lead ship of the German Navy’s F 125 frigates, was delivered to the navy last year and is currently underway, carrying out tests and training.

Back in July 2016, Captain at sea Michael Budde, Commander of the German Navy’s 2nd Flotilla, said the Baden Württemberg needs to undergo a “training camp” before she is commissioned into the Navy mid-2017.

Making sure the ship’s guns work is part of the tests and the navy recently released a video showing the frigate firing its automatic 27 mm and 127 mm guns in the North Sea’s Helgoland shooting range.

First up were the two 27 mm remotely controlled autocannons which had to prove themselves capable of defending against a small boat attack.

Heinrich Grossheim, the ship’s navigation officer says the guns can be employed from as close as the very side of the ship to the weapon’s maximum range.

Also shown in the video is the 127 mm Oto Melara gun which is capable of firing the Vulcano guided ammunition for land attacks. Over 30 shots can be fired under a minute. The navy notes that the gun’s range is over 80 km, adding that the exact numbers are secret.

F 125 frigates are a new class of ships set to replace the eight Bremen-Class frigates currently in service with the German Navy.

The four frigates are comparable to destroyers in size and are, with a length of 149 meters and a displacement of 7000 tonnes, the biggest operational ships in the German Navy.

According to the German Navy, the new frigates require only half the crew necessary to operate the Bremen-Class frigates. They will be able to stay at sea for up to 24 months and thereby reduce the transit times for the crews. The crews will swap in regular intervals directly in the areas of operations which means that the ships will have to make fewer port visits.