German shipbuilder Lürssen has hosted a keel-laying ceremony at its Peene-Werft shipyard to mark the start of construction of the German Navy’s eighth Braunschweig-class corvette.
The ship will bear the name ‘Karlsruhe’ and will be the third of a second batch of corvettes that were ordered in 2017 under a deal worth 2.4 billion euros.
Once constructed, all of the K130 corvettes will be assigned to the 1st Corvette Squadron in Rostock-Warnemünde, alongside the first batch of ships that were commissioned between 2008 and 2013.
The second batch of ships is being delivered by the K130 consortium (ARGE) consisting of Fr. Lürssen Werft, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and GERMAN NAVAL YARDS KIEL (GNYK). Ship sections are being built and pre-fitted at the Lürssen shipyard in Bremen and GNYK in Kiel. Final assembly will take place at the Blohm+Voss shipyard, a Lürssen subsidiary.
The second batch of ships will have improved combat systems, new masts and an additional RHIB.
The 90-meter ships are equipped with two 27 mm Mauser MLG27 remote-controlled, fully-automatic cannons, and one OTO Melara 76 mm gun.
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