The German frigate Hamburg fires surface-to-air missiles


According to information published by the Twitter account of the Deutsche Marine (German Navy) on May 12, 2021, the German Sachsen-class frigate Hamburg successfully fires surface-to-air missiles off the Norwegian coast.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 Sachsen-class frigate Hamburg (Picture source: Twitter account of Deutsche Marine)


Hamburg is a Sachsen-class frigate of the German Navy.

The F124 Sachsen class is Germany's latest class of highly advanced air-defense frigates. The design of the Sachsen-class frigate is based on that of the F123 Brandenburg class but with enhanced stealth features designed to deceive an opponent's radar and acoustic sensors.

The ships of the Sachsen class are 132.15 meters (433.6 ft) long at the waterline and 143 m (469 ft) long overall. They have a beam of 17.44 m (57.2 ft) and a draft of 5 m (16 ft), though the draft increases to 7 m (23 ft) at the sonar array in the bulbous bow. They displace 5,690 long tons (5,780 t) at full load. Steering is controlled by a single roll-stabilized rudder; the ships have a turning radius of 570 m (1,870 ft). The frigates have a crew of 38 officers, 64 petty officers, and 140 enlisted sailors.

The primary anti-air weapons are the 32-cell Mk 41 Mod 10 vertical launching system, equipped with twenty-four SM-2 Block IIIA missiles and thirty-two Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles. Point-defense against cruise missiles is provided by a pair of 21-round Rolling Airframe Missile launchers. The ships are also equipped with two four-cell RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers. In 2013, the German Navy considered modifying the ships' long-range search radar to allow the SM-2 missiles to be used in an anti-ballistic missile capacity.

For defense against submarines, the frigates carry two triple-launchers for the 324 mm (12.8 in) MU90 Impact torpedoes. The ships also carry a variety of guns, including one dual-purpose 62-caliber 76-millimeter (3 in) gun manufactured by OTO Melara. They are also armed with two Rheinmetall 27 mm (1.1 in) MLG 27 remote-controlled autocannons in single mounts.

The RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) is a development of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft.

ESSM is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles.


Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 Surface-to-air missile launched by the German frigate Hamburg (Picture source: Twitter account of Deutsche Marine)