New warship Lübeck, the last of five new Batch II K130 corvettes built for the German Navy, has been christened in Hamburg.
As per a Rheinmetall press statement, the ceremony took place at its Blohm+Voss shipyard on Wednesday. Attendees included local dignitaries and representatives from the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) and BAAINBw (its Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support).
The new corvettes are being built by the K130 consortium (ARGE K130), under a €240m programme led by Rheinmetall’s Naval Systems division in cooperation with TKMS and German Naval Yards Kiel.
They are just under 90m long, have a range of about 4,000 nautical miles and are capable of sailing at up to 26 knots.
They are armed with an OTO Melara 76mm gun and two Mauser BK-27 autocannons, and carry four RBS-15 Mk3 anti-ship missiles. They also feature a Close In Weapon System featuring two launchers each carrying 21 RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles.
The Rheinmetall statement noted: “The new units are specifically designed for coastal operations and are therefore particularly suited for reconnaissance and anti-surface warfare, especially in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.”
Lübeck will now undergo final outfitting in Hamburg ahead of German Navy testing and acceptance procedures and her planned commissioning.
CEO of Rheinmetall’s Naval Systems division Tim Wagner commented: “With the christening of the final corvette of the second batch, we have reached an important stage in the overall project.
“Our focus now turns to the upcoming milestones, which will culminate this year with the delivery to our customer of the two corvettes Emden and Köln.”
- You can read more details on the Rheinmetall website