Germany Scraps Multibillion-Euro Plans For Its Biggest Warship Project Since WWII

Berlin is planning to scrap a multibillion-euro project to build the largest warship commissioned by the German navy since World War II.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and other senior officials informed industry leaders and senior lawmakers on Tuesday of their intention to abandon plans for six F126 frigates, according to Der Spiegel.

The reversal marks one of the largest procurement setbacks in recent German history, altering a significant component of the country's defense overhaul.

More than €2 billion has already been spent on the F126 project since the order was placed in June 2020.

Shift to Smaller Vessels

Instead of the F126 fleet, Berlin intends to purchase eight smaller Meko A-200 frigates.

The decision represents a severe setback for defense contractor Rheinmetall, which anticipated becoming the lead contractor for the F126 program under a €12.8 billion deal.

The German government expects to write off €2 billion in costs already associated with the F126 program.

Rising Costs and Delays

The 166-meter-long F126 frigate was designed to weigh 10,000 tonnes and operate as a multipurpose vessel capable of prolonged deployments at sea.

Dutch shipyard Damen Naval originally won the contract in 2020 to build four of the vessels, a deal later expanded to include two more.

However, the project faced mounting delays and budget overruns driven by software issues and communication failures between Damen and Germany’s defense procurement agency.

Tensions eventually led both sides to initiate a process transferring the lead contractor role from Damen to Rheinmetall.

Rheinmetall positioned itself for naval expansion earlier this year by acquiring Naval Yards Lürssen for €1.5 billion.

Lawmakers, however, grew increasingly resistant to the €12.8 billion price tag proposed by Rheinmetall and the timeline for delivering the large vessels.