The Egyptian Navy Commissions Second Meko A-200 EN Type Frigate
The second of four MEKO A-200 EN frigates built by German Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems for the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Navy (Al-Quwwāt al-Bahareya al-Miṣriyya) arrived at the Alexandria naval base on Sunday, June 11. In May, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems handed over the “Al-Qahar” ship to the Egyptian Navy at the Stahlbau Nord shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany, in a ceremony attended by Egyptian Navy Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral Ashraf Ibrahim Atwa and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems CFO Paul Glaser. After the delivery ceremony, the ship left the shipyard and arrived at the naval base in the country’s port city of Alexandria 15 days later to join the Egyptian Navy. For the ship’s acceptance ceremony, the Navy held a naval parade on the coast of Alexandria, which was attended by a large number of navy ships and helicopters. Vice Admiral Ashraf Ibrahim Atwa and the Commander of the Northern Military Region, as well as many other Egyptian Navy commanders attended the ceremony.
In his speech at the reception, Egyptian Navy Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral Ashraf Ibrahim Atwa conveyed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s and Egyptian Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki’s greetings to the crew of the frigate and congratulated them on the safe delivery of the ship, noting the General Command of the Egyptian Armed Forces’ determination to implement a comprehensive strategy to develop and modernize the Egyptian naval fleet. The minister also noted that the latest training and simulation systems will train the next generation of crews and said that the new frigate will allow the Egyptian naval fleet to double its deterrent power in the region.
In 2018, the Egyptian Navy signed a contract with the German manufacturer for the purchase of four MEKO A-200 EN class frigates worth 2.3 billion euros (USD 2.5 billion). It was agreed that three of the frigates to be built under the contract would be built in Germany, with one being built in Alexandria Shipyard in Egypt with technical assistance from Thyssen Krupp, and work on the project officially began in August 2019. The production of the first, “Al-Aziz” (904), began in 2019, and the frigate was accepted by the Egyptian Navy 38 months after the contract went into effect. The third ship of the series, “AL-QADEER” will be delivered to the Egyptian Navy this year.
The MEKO A-200 EN is a continuation of the MEKO 200 class general purpose frigates. The frigate is capable of and configurable for anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, and chemical and biological warfare operations. The MEKO A-200 EN is also intended for a wide range of general missions and operations, including patrol and containment, special forces support, search and rescue, and humanitarian missions. The MEKO A200 has a total length of 121 meters, a width of 16.3 meters, a draft of 4.4 meters, a displacement of 3,700 tons, a speed of 29+ knots, and a range of 7,200 nautical miles at 16 knots. The ship’s CODAG-WARP (water jet and refined propellers) propulsion system is one of its most notable features. The vessel can move extremely quietly as a result of this system.
The ships’ crew consists of 120 personnel, and accommodation is provided for 50 additional special forces operators or students for training initiatives or other operational needs. MEKO A-200s can transport one 10-ton class helicopter or two 5-ton class helicopters, as well as two rotorcraft UAVs. The ships are also outfitted with a towed array sonar, a Thales NS-110 4D AESA radar, a Leonardo LW 127mm vulcano main gun, 32 VLS for MICA-NG SAM, 8 MM40 Block 3 Exocet SSM, MU-90 & Seahake Mod 4 torpedoes, 2 MASS, 2 WASS, 4 20mm guns, and Thales SCORPION 2 ECM.