German Navy’s new state-of-the-art warship sails into tech trouble
THE German navy ordered four brand new warships, for a staggering price tag. They are already causing massive headaches.
Germany's Baden-Württemberg frigate. Picture: Ein Dahmer/Creative CommonsSource:Supplied
THE GERMAN Navy’s latest multimillion-dollar warship, the Baden-Württemberg, is battling delays and technology challenges.
The Baden-Württemberg is the first of four new F-125 class frigates ordered by the Bundeswehr, the German military, with a total price tag of around $A3.6 billion.
Citing the German Navy, The Wall Street Journal reports that the ship’s central computer system has not passed the necessary tests. The ship, which has been undergoing sea trials, is returning to port this week, enabling the unspecified technology issues to be resolved.
“We are confident that we will be able to promptly solve the current problems with the IT-infrastructure thanks to our proven experience in the construction of complex naval vessels,” a spokesman for Thyssenkrupp, the company leading the F-125 project, told Fox News, via email.
“For the frigate 125 ‘Baden-Württemberg’, necessary revisions have led to delays in the trials to prove its operability,” he explained. “These trials are mainly carried out at sea and require extensive support and resources from all project participants.”
With a wealth of new technology on board, experts are still finetuning the frigate. “The frigate class 125 is a newly designed, technically sophisticated ship with highly complex new developments — including new technologies. With regard to such a major project, delays can never be completely ruled out,” the Thyssenkrupp spokesman told Fox News.
The ship, which displaces around 7,000,000 kilograms, was delivered for sea trials in 2016 after a series of delays, according to WSJ. Designed to stay at sea for up to two years, the F-125 frigates will eventually replace the German Navy’s eight ‘Bremen’ type 122-class frigates.
The ship’s central computer system has not passed the necessary tests. Picture: Bundeswehr/YouTubeSource:YouTube
The Baden-Württemberg is expected to be handed over to the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) this year, according to Thyssenkrupp’s spokesman.
Thanks to its sophisticated technology, the F-125s will use a much smaller crew than the 122-class ships. The new frigates will each have a regular crew of 120, but can support a maximum crew of 190. The 122 class frigates each have a crew of 203 plus 20 additional helicopter crew, according to Naval Technology.
The F-125s are also designed to support a “two-crew” model, where the complete crew can be changed in mid-deployment.
Citing the German newspaper Kieler Nachrichten, the WSJ reports that the Baden-Württemberg experienced problems with its radar, electronics and the flameproof coating on its fuel tanks. During its sea trials, the frigate was also found to list slightly to its starboard side, although this has been resolved.
Critics have also questioned whether the German military ordered the Baden-Württemberg without the necessary weaponry needed for anti-submarine warfare. The vessel, according to The Wall Street Journal, lacks the sonar and torpedo tubes found on the 122-class frigates.
Despite the delays experienced by the Baden-Württemberg, the consortium delivering the F-125 project expects to hand over the three additional frigates; the ‘Nordrhein-Westfalen,’ the ‘Sachsen-Anhalt’ and the ‘Rheinland-Pfalz,’ on time. “The Nordrhein-Westfalen has successfully completed its ship-related technical trials. Currently the combat system is being tested. The delivery of the Nordrhein-Westfalen to the BAAINBw is also planned for 2018,” explained the Thyssenkrupp spokesman, in an email to Fox News. “The frigate Sachsen-Anhalt is planned to be handed over in the year 2019 and the Rheinland-Pfalz in the year 2020.”
世界第一制造强国的没落: 护卫舰一下水就向右倾斜
京港台：2018-5-7 12:38| 来源：利刃军事 | 评论( 3 )条
http://www.backchina.com/news/2018/05/07/559692.html
提起德国制造，相信没有人不挑大拇指。远的不说，就说我们的代步工具，德系车的形象一直以技术先进，结实耐用的形象示人，甚至如奔驰、宝马等品牌都被视为地位的象征。德国技术的先进与其民族严谨到“死板”的性格有关，这是世界公认的。然而，最近一起事件的爆出，让德国产品一贯的人设碎了一地。
近日，《华尔街日报》发布消息称，德国花费30亿欧元打造的最新护卫舰“巴登·符腾堡”号驱逐舰海上测试没有过关，返回船厂继续“修正设计失误”。注意这个词“设计失误”，这个词的出现就意味着“巴登·符腾堡”号的问题不是一般的大，不是一般的设备或技术问题，而是初始的设计问题，这将导致“巴登·符腾堡”号还需要数年的时间改造，改造费用将进一步攀升，超过20亿欧元。需要说明的是，这30亿欧元指的是该级舰艇4艘的造价，单舰造价高达7.5亿欧元/每艘，有网友估算，这个造价和我军055的造价差不多，相当于4艘054的造价。一艘7000吨的战舰，如此高昂的造价，还不能用，真的是让人惊掉了下巴。那么，“巴登·符腾堡”号遇到了什么重大问题呢？
“巴登·符腾堡”号是德国海军F-125型护卫舰的首舰，2007年，德国签订了4艘F-125型护卫舰的建造合同，合同的总造价为22亿欧元，但后期又追加到了30亿欧元。F125驱逐舰是德国海军未来的护卫舰，是德国全新设计的多用途导弹护卫舰，可以说，德国在这艘舰上倾注了巨大的心力。但就是这样备受关注的军舰建造计划，首舰“巴登·符腾堡”号下水之出就出现了一个啼笑皆非的重大问题——舰体超重且不平衡的重量导致船体向右倾斜。舰体倾斜在造舰工程上是重大的设计失误，同时也是低端的失误，直接暴露了德国造船基本功的差劲，这一点与其民族的严谨完全不符。
除了舰体倾斜，更加令人摸不着头脑的是，这艘7000吨级的先进战舰竟然不装声呐。不知道德国方面是怎么样的考虑，军舰没有声呐，面对潜艇将成为完全的瞎子，这无疑是自断手脚，同时“巴登·符腾堡”号上取消了此前F124上装配的美制垂直防空导弹发射系统，可以说“巴登·符腾堡”号不能防空也不能反潜，只有几具2*4管反舰导弹发射器勉强让其具备平面打击能力，防御武器完全交给2*21管海拉姆MK2 近防系统还有2*27MM毛瑟机炮武器站。如此残缺的设计，还花了远超7.5亿欧元的造舰，真不知道德国想干什么。
其实，出现这一切重大失误是有具体原因的，那就是德国的新生代没有人愿意去钻研制造的缘故，德国正在慢慢的褪去制造强国的光环。有国外军事对此批评到，德国的造船工人并不是失去技能，而是压根就没学过！
