On October 14, 2022, a ceremony was held in Bremerhaven (Germany) to hand over to the Egyptian Navy the lead frigate Al-Aziz (tail number "904") of the MEKO 200EN project, built by the German shipbuilding association thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), in a series of four ordered ships.
The lead frigate Al-Aziz transferred to the Egyptian Navy (tail number "904") of the MEKO 200EN project, built by the German shipbuilding association thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). Bremerhaven, 14.10.2022 (c) TKMSAt the same time, a naming ceremony was held for the second ship of this type built for Egypt, also located in Bremerhaven, called Al-Qadeer (tail number "905"), which is due to be tested in the near future.
Recall that the German concern thyssenkrupp (which includes TKMS) in September 2018 signed an agreement with Egypt on the construction of four frigates of the MEKO A200EN project for the Egyptian fleet worth about 2.35 billion euros (excluding the cost of missile weapons), while it was envisaged to build one of these frigates under license in Egypt. At the beginning of 2019, it was reported that the number of frigates ordered by Egypt of the MEKO A200EN project increased to six, and two additional ships were also supposed to be built in Egypt, due to the signing of a contract for financing, in addition to Saudi Arabia, which acted from the very beginning as a sponsor, also the United Arab Emirates. However, according to recent reports, only one frigate MEKO A200EN will be built in Egypt at the naval shipyard in Alexandria so far. In addition to Saudi Arabia's funds, the contract is also being implemented at the expense of an export loan issued by Germany.
The frigates of the MEKO A200EN project under construction for the Egyptian Navy are similar in appearance to the two previously built TKMS for Algeria frigates of the MEKO A200AN project (type El Radii, commissioned in 2016-2017). The construction of Egyptian frigates is carried out according to a complex scheme already traditional for modern German military shipbuilding - hull sections (in fact, halves) of frigate hulls were built under contract at the Stahlbau Nord shipbuilding company (Heinrich Rönner Gruppe group) in Bremerhaven, then transported to the BVT Bremen shipyard of the same group in Bremen, where the hulls were docked and launched. After that, the hulls of the ships were towed to Kiel, where their completion and equipment were carried out first at the Kieler Werft TKMS shipyard, and then again diverted to Bremerhaven. TKMS is responsible for the final integration, testing and delivery of these ships.
The lead frigate for Egypt, Al-Aziz (tail number "904"), was started construction in September 2019, launched in Bremen on April 27, 2021 and launched from the Keel on April 5, 2022. Now it has been transferred to the Egyptian Navy. Two other frigates under construction in Germany for Egypt were launched later in 2021.
In December 2021, construction of the fourth frigate of the MEKO A200EN project began at the Egyptian Naval Shipyard in Alexandria in cooperation with TKMS.
The length of the frigate of the MEKO A200EN project is 121 meters, and the total displacement is about 4,000 tons. It is known that the armament of the Egyptian ships of the MEKO A200EN project consists of four MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3 four-container anti-ship missile launchers, a 32-charge vertical MBDA MICA-NG medium-range air defense missile launcher, a 127 mm/64 Leonardo LW universal artillery launcher with Vulcano weapons system, two 30 mm remotely controlled MSI artillery launchers-Defense, two 533-mm torpedo tubes for SeaHake Mod 4 torpedoes, 324-mm torpedo tubes for MU-90 anti-submarine torpedoes, one or two helicopters permanently based in the hangar. The ships are equipped with the Thales NS110 general detection radar with AFAR and other modern electronic weapons of the Thales Group.
The lead frigate Al-Aziz (tail number "904") of the MEKO 200EN project built by the German shipbuilding association thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) for the Egyptian Navy is at the testing stage, June 2022 (from) www.navalnews.com
From left to right: Al-Aziz (tail number "904"), Al-Qadeer (tail number "905") and the third, with tail number "907", the name of which has not yet been officially assigned. Bremerhaven, 13.10.2022">
All three frigates of the MEKO 200EN project being built in Germany for the Egyptian fleet together. From left to right: Al-Aziz (tail number "904"), Al-Qadeer (tail number "905") and the third, with tail number "907", the name of which has not yet been officially assigned. Bremerhaven, 13.10.2022 (c) Mahmoud Gamal / @mahmouedgamal44
