FGS
Karlsruhe
is the third of five follow-on K130 corvettes on order for the German Navy.
(Michael Nitz, Naval Press Service)

The third follow-on Braunschweig (K130)-class corvette on order for the German Navy was launched at NV Lürssen (NVL) subsidiary Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg on 7 May, NVL Group announced the same day.

FGS
Karlsruhe
is the third boat of the second batch of five additional corvettes for the German Navy. The German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) ordered the five follow-on vessels from the ARGE K130 consortium, led by NVL Group and including thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (tkMS) and German Naval Yards Kiel (GNYK), under a contract worth more than EUR 2.2 billion (USD2.39 billion) in September 2017.

Following its launch,
Karlsruhe
will now enter the final outfitting phase. Its four sister ships, meanwhile, are at various stages of construction at Blohm+Voss’s shipyard.

Due to information technology (IT) security challenges with the command and weapon control system the entire programme is running behind schedule. Originally all five second batch corvettes should already have been delivered to the customer.