Germany is set to assume command of a NATO maritime task group in the North Atlantic, with the frigate Sachsen taking over as flagship from the Royal Navy’s HMS Dragon, according to the German Embassy in London.
The handover comes as HMS Dragon deploys to the eastern Mediterranean, where the Type 45 destroyer has arrived to support regional security tasks, including the defence of Cyprus.
Berlin said the move reflects a broader increase in German military presence in the North Atlantic under NATO, and described the transition as an expression of close UK-Germany cooperation.
The two warships represent some of the most capable air-defence platforms in their respective fleets, though with different design philosophies.
HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer displacing around 8,000 to 8,500 tonnes, is built around the Sea Viper air defence system, combining the SAMPSON radar with Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles to provide area air defence against aircraft and missile threats. The class is optimised for high-end air warfare, with advanced sensor fusion and long-range engagement capability.
By contrast, Sachsen, a 5,800-tonne German frigate, is equipped with a layered air defence suite centred on the SMART-L long-range radar and APAR fire control radar, paired with SM-2 and ESSM missiles launched from a 32-cell Mk 41 vertical launch system. While smaller than the Type 45, the Sachsen-class is designed to provide fleet air defence within NATO task groups, alongside anti-surface and anti-submarine capabilities.
Both vessels carry embarked helicopters and a mix of close-in weapon systems, decoys and electronic warfare suites, enabling them to operate as central nodes within multinational naval formations.
It also reflects the fact that the RN Escort fleet has collapsed, as we no longer have an alternate ship to send at this time.
And the NATO North Atlantic tasking is supposed to be the UK and the RNs back yard.
Well done, HMG……👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 when are you going to announce intent of a batch 2 Of Type 31, Mr Starmer, considering your ridiculous diatribe on the other article about “keeping Britain safe” and “stepping up”?
The RN was mandated in 97 to need 20 Frigates, in a peacetime post Cold War World.
Where is the commitment to get back to even 24 Escorts? Or are you hiding behind toy boats and autonomy again as the solution?
Spot on mate, spot on….
We need to be back to a fleet of 30 plus Frigates and Destroyers, it ‘never’ should have gone below that number.
Its frankly astonishing Labour are just doing nothing, just sitting on their hands.
Yep.. essentially this is a symptom of the fact that the RN was always meant to have 20 frigates and 12 destroyers..
People can “ but it’s fantasy fleet” that was the identified “need” not want.. and ignoring your “needs” and not expecting a detrimental consequence is the fantasy.
Maritime power and conflict is and always has been a game of numbers over exquisite capability… all the exquisite capability in the world does not matter if you cannot turn up.. and when it comes to maritime power the number of places you need to turn up to are very large… HMS massive will always loss the war even if it wins every battle it fights.
Although I have a small amount of sympathy for the current administration for the hollowing out of the armed services for the last 30 years, especially under Camerloon (I remember watching the MRA4 being crushed), there is no intention shown to do anything but tinker around the edges. No increase in the budget, no plan to sort out the shrinking RAF, no GBAD (despite the ‘layered’ GBAD they talk about really being point and short range), no proposed increase in the Frigate force just more reductions in hull numbers across RN and RFA. As for the army, they are their own worst enemy so not going there.
For the sake of the country do something meaningful before we truly get embarrassed in action (or inaction) or worse we lose people.
rant over for now
I’d recommend that anyone who has access to SM go on X to LBC and listen to the radio interview between Nick Ferrari and John Healey, the Defence Secretary, about an hour ago.
If true, it shows how utterly out of his depth Healey is, he couldn’t say how many Escorts the RN has without numerous pauses, delays, and splutters, before giving an incorrect answer as 17!
He stated the last Labour government left the force at 23, but of course neglected to detail they cut it from 35 to 23.
An utter car crash, and this man is the Defence Secretary?
I’ll do it for a pittance of your wage…..I can state our force
structure to LBC across all 3 services without needing to lie, or even guess.
When will we have a Minister who is on top of their brief?
Do you think he was trying to count the Rivers 2.. that I believe would make 17.. either way it’s a fantasy.. either a lie or a mistake.
Ahh, yes, good one,possibly.
My other thought was including laid up T23s so non commissioned assets still on MoDs books? I don’t know if that would make 17 as I lose track how many are at the creek in Pompey and not already sold off or scrapped.
The mad thing is I remember the discussions years ago about having 2000 ton warships with only a 30mm cannon on them.. the core reasoning was that they were EEZ constabulary vessels and that if you put a medium gun and other stuff on them then the politicians would think they are warships and reduce the escort fleet and use them as warships… well they have been deployed across the world to replace frigate deployments and may even now be added to the numbers of “ escorts”…. Could not make it up.
Heard Healy on the radio this morning spluttering and blustering when asked how many escorts we have available before clearly announcing 17. A blatant lie.
Ha! I just detailed some of that.
Did you note his framing of the question.
“17. It was 23 at last Labour government, so nicely placing blame only at the Tories door. Didn’t mention Labour’s part in it from 97 to 2010, did you?
He also noted the halving of the MCMV force! A force already salami sliced beyond recognition by 2004 when West got his mitts into it, along with several of the RNs escorts.
I just heard the ’17’ bit of the interview as reported on Radio X. I immediately screamed ‘F***ing Liar!’ across the kitchen which had the wife upstairs a bit worried. Beggars belief that he chose to throw in that bit of useless ‘previous government’ spin when he’s been asked such a pertinent question and given such an astonishingly BS answer.
😬🙄….my Wife is used to it as well, she still reminds me that, back in 2010 at the SDSR, she’d never seen me so depressed.
And things are worse now, so I must be immune! 🌞
He might have also spun the 17 as including various spent, cut, and laid up T23s still sitting in the creek in Portsmouth.
So technically, the RN still has them?
Scum…..the lot of them.
Don’t let it trigger your stress response.. it will only release cortisol and cause you mental and physical harm.. things you have no power over are things to let go…do something you have power over such as write a letter to the times and get it published..
I’ve already messaged Nick Ferrari offering to detail the British military ORBAT, then and now, for balance, at just WHERE THE BLAME LIES.