Saab to supply sensors and combat systems for new German warships after F126 scrapped

VIENNA — Swedish defense firm Saab has secured an 8.7 billion kronor ($900 million) contract to supply combat systems and sensors for the German Navy’s new MEKO A-200 DEU frigates, the company announced Thursday.

The deal with German prime contractor TKMS comes just weeks after Berlin scrapped its troubled, heavily delayed F126 frigate program, pivoting instead to a smaller, off-the-shelf design to fulfill urgent NATO anti-submarine warfare requirements.

Under the agreement, Saab will provide composite superstructures and integrate its 9LV combat management and fire control systems onto four vessels.

The sensor package includes the long-range Sea Giraffe 4A Fixed Face and the lightweight Sea Giraffe 1X radars.

Saab stated that deliveries to TKMS will take place between 2029 and 2032, aligning with Berlin’s aggressive timeline to get the first ship in the water by the end of the decade.

The Bundestag’s budget committee greenlit the roughly €6.3 billion ($7.2 billion) procurement of the four TKMS-built warships on July 8, which includes an option for four additional hulls.

Saab CEO Micael Johansson noted the deliveries would “significantly enhance” the German fleet’s anti-air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare capabilities.

While the 4,000-ton MEKO A-200 DEU represents a more mature, commercially available design than its canceled 10,000-ton predecessor, the accelerated timeline and complex multinational systems integration pose unique challenges of their own.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

维也纳——瑞典国防公司萨博周四宣布，该公司已获得一份价值 87 亿瑞典克朗（9 亿美元）的合同，将为德国海军新型 MEKO A-200 DEU 护卫舰提供作战系统和传感器。

与德国主承包商 TKMS 达成协议的几周前，柏林方面放弃了陷入困境、严重延误的 F126 护卫舰项目，转而采用规模较小、现成的设计来满足北约紧急的反潜作战需求。

根据协议，萨博公司将提供复合材料上层建筑，并将其 9LV 作战管理和火控系统集成到四艘舰艇上。

该传感器组件包括远程 Sea Giraffe 4A 固定面雷达和轻型 Sea Giraffe 1X 雷达。

萨博表示，向TKMS交付船舶的时间将在2029年至2032年之间，这与柏林方面雄心勃勃的计划相符，即在本十年末之前让第一艘船下水。

7月8日，德国联邦议院预算委员会批准了价值约63亿欧元（72亿美元）的采购计划，用于购买四艘由TKMS建造的军舰，其中包括增购四艘军舰的选择权。

萨博首席执行官米凯尔·约翰逊指出，这些交付将“显著增强”德国舰队的防空、反潜和反水面作战能力。

虽然 4,000 吨的 MEKO A-200 DEU 代表着比其被取消的 10,000 吨的前身更成熟、更具商业价值的设计，但加速的时间表和复杂的多国系统集成也带来了其自身独特的挑战。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。