- Close exchange with BAAINBw, the Federal Ministry of Defense, and the German Navy on the further development of the MEKO® platform.
- Platform size, costs, and technical design are consistently derived from the capabilities required by the customer.
- 90 percent of value will be created in Germany: shipbuilding, system integration, sensors, drives, electronics, and jobs.
- If the contract is awarded soon, the first ship can be delivered by the mid-2030s.
Hamburg, September 1, 2026: A400 FC GmbH, the project company led by TKMS, has made significant progress on the design for the F127 air defense frigate. This was achieved in close collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Defense, the German Navy, the Federal Office of Defense Procurement (BAAINBw), and its industry partners. The design is based on the MEKO® A400 design and addresses the customer’s wide-ranging strategic capability requirements for long-range air defense and ballistic missile defense (BMD).
The F127 air defense frigate was designed to meet the customer’s needs and aligned with the ship’s particularly demanding capability profile. The military and technological demands defined by the contracting authority relate in particular to the capability to intercept ballistic missiles even outside the Earth’s atmosphere. As a sea-based platform, the F127 is designed to be deployed flexibly wherever air and missile defense is needed – to protect naval formations as well as to serve as a mobile component of NATO’s integrated air defense.
Oliver Burkhard, CEO of TKMS: “In close collaboration with the BAAINBw, the Ministry of Defense, the Navy, and the other involved agencies, the F127 design has been significantly advanced. At our customer’s request, we have developed a solution that reliably meets the exacting requirements while taking into account industrial feasibility and an ambitious timeline. Together with our co-partner Rheinmetall in the A400 FC, we are bringing together the necessary capabilities for this technologically challenging naval project. Ninety percent of the value added would be generated in Germany: this includes shipbuilding, system integration, sensors, drives, electronics, and of course jobs. If the contract is awarded promptly, the first ship can be delivered by the mid-2030s.”
The current size of the F127 is largely determined by updated customer requirements: Sensors, effectors, command and weapon control systems, as well as the necessary energy, space, and weight reserves, significantly determine the platform’s current dimensions. The current F127 design is based on the proven MEKO® concept from TKMS and also takes into account the necessary potential for growth to accommodate the integration of future sensors, effectors, and other technologies.
