Click here - to select or create a menu

Naval News

DEFEA 2021
  • News
  • Event News
    • Euronaval 2020
    • SNA 2020
    • MADEX 2019
    • PACIFIC 2019
  • Interviews
  • Videos
  • Advertising
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Home» News»Thales to Supply Tacticos and AWWS for German Navy’s Future MKS 180 Frigates

Thales to Supply Tacticos and AWWS for German Navy’s Future MKS 180 Frigates

Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding and Thales signed a €1.5B contract for the delivery and full integration of Thales’s Mission and Combat System for the four MKS 180 class frigates. Here are some details on the configuration of the German Navy (Deutsche Marine) future surface combatant.

Xavier Vavasseur 18 Nov 2020

Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding and Thales signed on November 17, 2020, the contract for the delivery and full integration of Thales’s Mission and Combat System for the four MKS 180 class frigates contracted by the German Navy. The system will be designed by Damen and completely built by German shipyards, under Damen’s project management.

Valued at €1.5B, the contract illustrates Thales’s leading position in global naval integration. It will be executed by Thales’s naval Centers of Excellence in Hengelo (the Netherlands), Kiel and Wilhelmshaven (Germany) in cooperation with a substantial number of German subcontractors.

According to Thales representative, this is the third largest contract ever awarded to the company (following the Rafale contract with India five years ago and the French FREMM contract a decade ago). 70% of the work will be conducted in Germany and the remaining 30% in the Netherlands.

The first ship of the MKS 180 class will be operational in 2028. The entire program will run for over ten years. There is an option for two more frigates.

Here are some details on the equipment that Thales will be providing:

  • Tacticos combat management system
  • Satcom system
  • APAR Block 2 x-band multifunction radar for AWWS
  • Gatekeeper 360° IR/TV system
  • Mirador MK2 EO tracking and observation system

Other equipment (non Thales) that will be fuzed with the Thales systems (Tacticos + AWWS):

  • MK41 VLS for ESSM Block 2
  • Naval Strike Missile (NSM)
  • KORA C-ESM and R-ESM
  • TRS-4D c-band air and surface surveillance radar
  • RAM CIWS
  • 127mm main gun with Vulcano extended range precision munition

The decoy launchers will likely be the MASS by Rheinmetall. MKS 180 will be fitted with a sonar suite as well, but the competition for this contract is still ongoing.

Thales’s Mission and Combat System includes the comprehensive Tacticos Combat Management System and the AWWS (Above Water Warfare System) Fire Control Cluster. The contract includes four ship systems, logistic services and multiple land-based test and training sites, as well as the option for one or two additional ships.

About AWWS

AWWS is a cutting-edge warfare suite that helps the ship crews to counter and neutralise complex saturation attacks by continuously analysing and optimising the tactical environment and deployment of resources. AWWS will be combined with APAR* Bl2, the evolved version of Thales’s proven AESA* multifunction radar. In 2019, Thales signed an AWWS development contract for the new M-frigates for the Belgian and Dutch Navies.

About Tacticos

TACTICOS is Thales’s naval Combat Management System (CMS) and this sits at the heart of a maritime Combat System. For the last 25 years, TACTICOS has been continuously developed in order to meet present and future military needs. 

TACTICOS’s under-pinning open architecture infrastructure is what makes it so adaptable and well-suited to numerous navies with different combat system configurations and operating requirements. With 26 customer navies on all continents, TACTICOS has become the world’s most successful CMS.

Damen German Navy MKS 180 Thales 2020-11-18
Tags Damen German Navy MKS 180 Thales
Facebook Twitter Stumble linkedin Pinterest More

Authors

Posted by : Xavier Vavasseur
Xavier is based in Paris, France. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Xavier has been covering naval defense topics for nearly a decade.

Related Articles

Hensoldt modernizes German Navy’s K130 corvette TRS-3D radar

Hensoldt modernizes German Navy’s K130 corvette TRS-3D radar

Nathan Gain 17 Feb 2021
Sensor solutions provider HENSOLDT is modernising the TRS-3D radars of two K130-class corvettes of the German Navy, as well as an associated shore facility.
Thales NS50 Radar Bringing Game Changing Features for Vessels of All Sizes

Thales NS50 Radar Bringing Game Changing Features for Vessels of All Sizes

Xavier Vavasseur 08 Feb 2021
Following the recent announcement that the NS50 was selected for 12 next generation Mine Counter Measures Vessels, we contacted Thales to find out what makes this radar unique.
Rheinmetall and MBDA win contract for Naval Laser Weapons System

Rheinmetall and MBDA win contract for Naval Laser Weapons System

Xavier Vavasseur 28 Jan 2021
MBDA and Rheinmetall won a contract to fabricate, integrate and support testing of a laser weapon demonstrator in the maritime environment.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Legal / Privacy Policy
About Us
Contact Us

© Naval News 2019 - 2020
All Rights Reserved