On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, a christening ceremony was held at the German Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg, owned by Rheinmetall Naval Systems, part of the Rheinmetall AG group, for FGS Lübeck (F269), the newest and final missile corvette of the second K130 Braunschweig batch, belonging to the MEKO A-100 design family.
Photo: Rheinmetall AG
The ceremony was attended by representatives of the political sphere, industry, and the German Bundeswehr, including the Deputy Inspector of the German Navy (Deutsche Marine), Vice Adm. Axea Deertz; the Director of the Bundeswehr procurement office BAAINBw (Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support), Jürgen Giefer; and the mayor of Lübeck, the ship’s sponsor city, Jan Lindenau. Huong Nguyen, partner of Lübeck city council chairman Henning Schumann, named the vessel Lübeck.
Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG, stated:
“The christening of this vessel marks a special milestone for us and for me personally. After all, this is the first ceremony of its kind for Rheinmetall. Together with our new Naval Systems division and through our leading role in this and other important shipbuilding projects, we are taking responsibility for strengthening the defence capabilities of our country and our NATO partners. My thanks go to all employees and our partners whose dedication is driving the completion of these technologically sophisticated naval units.”
The ship’s keel was laid on May 15, 2022, at the German Naval Yards Kiel shipyard in Kiel. Following the christening, the ship will be delivered to the Deutsche Marine as planned after final outfitting in Hamburg. It will then undergo all necessary functional tests and acceptance procedures in close cooperation with the relevant departments of the customer and the German Navy.
Tim Wagner, CEO of Rheinmetall’s Naval Systems division, said:
“With the christening of the final corvette of the second batch, we have reached an important stage in the overall project. Our focus now turns to the upcoming milestones, which will culminate this year with the delivery to our customer of the two corvettes EMDEN and KÖLN.”
Jan Lindenau, Mayor of Lübeck:
“That the corvette bears the name of our city is both an honour and a sign of the close ties with our armed forces, who perform a vital service for the security of our country and for peace around the world. I am delighted that the Navy represents the name of our Hanseatic city and thus also serves as an ambassador for a historic and cosmopolitan port city.”
Construction of the ships is the responsibility of the ARGE (Arbeitsgemeinschaft) K130 working group, comprising Rheinmetall Naval Systems – originally Fr. Lürssen Werft GmbH & Co. KG and later Naval Vessels Lürssen, or NVL Group – as lead, TKMS, formerly Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, and German Naval Yards Kiel.
As reported by the German magazine Europäische Sicherheit & Technik (ESUT) on September 27, 2022, the construction program for the second batch was delayed, depending on the ship, by between six to eight months and two years, while costs increased by 401 million EUR. The problems reportedly stemmed from the integration of new systems.
K130 Batch 2
The ships are 89.12 m long, 13.28 m wide, have a draft of 3.4 m, and displace 1,840 t. They are powered by two MTU 20V 1163 TB 93 diesel engines with a combined output of 14.8 MW, driving two propellers, which gives them a maximum speed of 26 kt and a range of up to 4,000 nautical miles at an economical speed of 15 kt. The crew consists of 65 officers and sailors.
As for the differences between the first and second batches, the new ships receive Hensoldt TRS-4D AESA 3D multifunction radars with the MSSR 2000I interrogator in place of the Cassidian TRS-3D PESA C-band radar with the MSSR 2000 interrogator, as well as Leonardo OTO Melara 76/62 Super Rapid 76 mm automatic naval guns instead of the OTO Melara Compact. Ships of both batches will receive Saab/UMS Skeldar V-200 Sea Falcon unmanned reconnaissance helicopters under a November 2021 contract for six units. The main missile armament, meanwhile, consists of four Saab RBS-15 Mk.3 anti-ship missiles and two launchers for 21 RIM-116 RAM Block II surface-to-air missiles.
FGS Köln (F 265) was handed over on September 19, 2025, while final outfitting and testing are currently underway on the next ships: Emden (F 266), Karlsruhe (F 267), and Augsburg (F 268). Meanwhile, the first-batch ships entered service between 2008 and 2013: Braunschweig (F 260), Magdeburg (F 261), Erfurt (F 262), Oldenburg (F 263), and Ludwigshafen am Rhein (F 264).
Corvette LÜBECK: Rheinmetall celebrates first ship christeninghttps://t.co/6VPyjPQmEW pic.twitter.com/PH5FsnqSOq
— Rheinmetall (@RheinmetallAG) April 29, 2026
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