According to a tweet published by MBDA on July 4, 2022, the German Navy's Baden-Württemberg class frigate Sachsen Anhalt has tested for the first time a laser weapon in the Baltic Sea.
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German Navy's Baden-Württemberg-class frigate Sachsen Anhalt (Picture source: MBDA)
A joint venture (ARGE) comprising MBDA Deutschland and Rheinmetall Waffe Munition was established in 2021 to build, integrate and support the testing of a laser weapon demonstrator in the maritime environment. MBDA Germany was responsible for tracking, the control console and linking the laser weapon demonstrator to the command and control system.
On the other side, Rheinmetall was in charge of the laser weapon station, the beam guidance system and the cooling and integration of the laser weapon demonstrator into the project container of the laser source demonstrator.
About Sachsen Anhalt frigate
Sachsen-Anhalt (F224) is the third ship of the Baden-Württemberg-class frigates of the German Navy. Sachsen-Anhalt was designed and constructed by ARGE F125, a joint-venture of Thyssen-Krupp and Lürssen.
They are primarily designed for low and medium-intensity maritime stabilization operations, where they are supposed to provide sea-to-land tactical fire support, asymmetric threat control at sea, and support of special forces. Their crew is comprised on average of 150 sailors, although that can change depending on the mission.
The Baden-Württemberg-class frigates are equipped with ten guns for defence against air and surface targets. The vessels are also armed with non-lethal weapons, such as water cannons and searchlights for non-provocative deterrence and defence.
Beyond capabilities that might be provided by the ship's helicopter(s), sensors for anti-submarine warfare have not been integrated into the platform while the ship's air defence capability is limited to relatively short-range point defence systems.
