Damen, a frigate designer, really ?
Obviously there is, right now, no design capability of a combat ship type MKS 180, neither in GNY nor in B&V, all German first rank warship design capabilities having been put aside by TKMS, for its own use, when they sold the Hamburg yard to B&V and the Kiel one to GNY.
Clearly also, out of the two European partners: DAMEN and BAE, only BAE still retains some warship design capacity; even if not a dream partner, with a last frigate design experience in 1984 (Type 23), somewhat revived by the Type 45 destroyers designed in 2000 (first of class delivered by Vosper, a shipyard now closed).
As for DAMEN, one cannot but be stunned by the provocative letter sent last week to Members of the German Parliament by the joint CEOs of B&V and DAMEN, in which DAMEN is highlighted as responsible for the complete design of the future MKS 180! [1]
In the same letter it is stated with some surprising commercial coarseness that the MKS 180 of DAMEN brand would rank one of the first in the world of surface combatants[2], which sounds as an attractive marketing hook.
[1] “Das design für die angebotenen Fregatten MKS 180 käme aus den Niederlanden”.
[2] “Es entspricht den weltweit modernsten Standards im Überwassersschiffbau”.
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