German procurement office contracts Leonardo for K130 corvette Super Rapid deliveries

Germany’s defense procurement agency BAAINBw has awarded Italian defense technology company Leonardo a contract to provide seven OTO 76/62 Super Rapid gun systems for the navy’s five new K130 corvettes.

Leonardo says the contract also includes training and spare parts supply. The company also delivered gun systems for integration on the first batch of five corvettes.

The German Navy is getting an additional five K130 corvettes under a €2.4 billion contract signed with the ARGE K130 consortium in September 2017. Composed of Lürssen Werft, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and the subsequently incorporated German Naval Yards Kiel, the team is to deliver the five ships by 2025.

The corvettes will be named Köln, Emden, Karlsruhe, Augsburg, and Lübeck.

A contract for the delivery of Super Rapid guns is the latest in a series of Leonardo deliveries to the German Navy. The Italian company delivered its first 76/62 Compact system to Germany in the 70s. The most recent supplies include the 127/64 Vulcano naval guns and the Hitrole 12.7 turrets for the F125 frigate.

The OTO 76/62 SR system itself is in service with almost 60 navies worldwide, Leonardo says. It is capable of sustaining a fire rate of up to 120 strokes per minute and flexible enough for use in anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense and for point defense.

Depending on the configuration, the OTO 76/62 Super Rapid could include the STRALES capability to fire DART guided ammunition specifically designed for the engagement of fast maneuvering targets, and the VULCANO GPS-guided long-range ammunition.

In addition to the guns, the corvettes will carry Saab’s RBS15 Mk3 anti-ship missiles, the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) system and will feature combat systems developed by Atlas Elektronik and Thales.