German Navy Sachsen-class frigate FGS Hamburg is scheduled to depart her Wilhelmsaven homeport on September 6 to join NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2).
Hamburg will set sail for the Aegean Sea where the international group is most active.
The air-defense frigate and her crew will spend the next five months with the group. Hamburg’s sister ship, FGS Hessen, has been part of SNMG2 since April this year. The ship will head home after handing her duties over to FGS Hamburg in Souda Bay, Greece.
In addition to conducting exercises with Black and Mediterranean Sea navies, SNMG2 ships work with Greek and Turkish coast guard vessels and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency “Frontex” on disrupting the networks of human smugglers in the region.
FGS Hessen is a Sachsen-class air defense frigate equipped with the SMART-L radar and SM-2 and ESSM missiles allowing them to provide anti-air defense in a radius of 400 kilometers.