Germany's purchase of five new warships perceived as 'signal to Russia'

Sputnik
Sun, 16 Oct 2016 18:35 UTC

At least five Braunschweig class corvettes will enter service with the German navy in the next few years, in what can be seen as a signal to Russia, according to the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

The German Bundestag (parliament) has approved a purchase by the country's ruling coalition of five Braunschweig class corvettes worth a total of 1.5 billion euros, the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported, citing Bundestag sources.

Germany's ruling coalition includes representatives of the center-right Cristian Democratic Union party (CDU), the conservative Christian Social Union party (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). "To cope with the new security challenges in the Baltic region, the Mediterranean and in the world as a whole, the coalition of the CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD plans to purchase five new corvettes for the German navy worth 1.5 billion euros," the newspaper quoted the sources as saying.

The first two ships are expected to be put into service in 2019, while the other three vessels are due to become part of the German navy by 2023.

Right now, the country's navy has a total of five K 130 Braunschweig-class corvettes, according to Suddeutsche Zeitung.

These newest class of Germans corvettes is mainly used in coastal waters, including in the Baltic Sea, the newspaper said.

In this connection, Suddeutsche Zeitung suggested that the German navy's modernization, such as the current purchase of five Braunschweig class corvettes, could be perceived as Berlin's signal to Russia.

According to the website naval-technology.com, "the K130 [class] corvettes are designed with stealth features, low draft, and highly automated weapons and defense systems to support littoral warfare and particularly for the operations of a multi-national crisis reaction force."

Earlier this week, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolay Pankov said that Moscow will establish a permanent naval base in the Syrian port city of Tartus, home to a Russian Navy maintenance and support facility which was established by the Soviet Union in 1977. Pankov also said that the Russian Defense Ministry was looking into reestablishing Russian bases in Cuba and Vietnam. In addition, media reports cited Russia's plans to return to a former Soviet air force base in the Egyptian city of Sidi Barrani.

Reader Comments

Astronaut · 2016-10-16T20:25:54Z

Wrong perception.

The Germans are buying the Corvettes , probably made in the Netherlands, for resale to the highest bidder. After WW2 limitations were placed as to what kind of weapons they could make and use. They 've already made Jeep-like
military vehicles, tanks with radar guided anti-aircraft weapons and the list continues. They don't make them for themselves, I mean Jesus their country has been scorched to the ground twice. Usually they sell them to other countries, Russia could be one of them, not a country against Russia as the header of the article implies. As far as engineering is concerned : The eastern dudes are good in electronics, the Germans good in mechanical engineering and the U.S. in construction.

katesisco · 2016-10-16T22:54:46Z

Speaking............

of long lasting enmity, should we not revisit the deep past and see how absolution was carried out? Slavery for debt was only supposed to last 7 years in Greece. Transportation for crimes like eating stolen bread didn't turn out too well if you were sent to America instead of Australia. Seems like there were births to the 14 year old transported children who were then required to work for the next 7 years to cover the cost of feeding the child. So much for the founding fathers democracy.
Supposedly the church offered sanctuary for a criminal who made it thru the door. And the Jubilee year saw all debts cleared.
Consider the state of the world now. To request abatement of fines or assessments for a public persona is unheard of. Corporates had long had the exclusive right to reduced taxes, subsidies, etc. as part of the business proposal. Government fines for wrongdoing are levied in public-satisfying amounts but then are reduced down to a pittance years later. John Q Public is often fined by traffic officers. Missing the court date or being present for the first 6 postponed only to miss the 7 and be fined again cripples the working individual. So many drivers are without licenses that unless an across-the-board amnesty is declared, drivers with 30 year old fines will be on the nightly news every night and not just once a month.

This grievance against each and every one of us is a hindrance to the genuine friendliness we have for each other. I think Germany should be able to make what ever it wants and sell it. So should Japan. This local war in the Middle East is to reend WWII as to keep the advantage the US has been floating on for 70 years. Jockeying for space, making alignments, forcing masses of population from their country are bad. There are lots of evils like the Nazi; the head of Romania for instance. Raising orphans in isolation to deaden their emotions to make them killing machines without feeling for example. Its too bad that the wholesale import of machetes to Rwanda wasn't stopped like the orphanage plan.
So the world can choose to stop bad things. Let's stop this constant reprisal. LET'S NOT ARM TO BEGIN WITH.

Lets recognize that everyone needs power. Everyone needs to be recognized. Everyone needs to share recognition.