The US Department of State has approved an estimated $11.9-billion sale of Aegis-based integrated combat systems for Germany’s future fleet of Type 127 frigates.
The potential Foreign Military Sale includes eight shipsets of Aegis-based integrated combat system MK 6 MOD X computing infrastructure, eight shipsets of AN/SPY-6(V)1 active electronically scanned array S-band radars, and eight shipsets of MK 41 baseline VIII vertical launch systems.
The approval marks an important step in Germany’s planned procurement of eight Type 127 air defense frigates to defend against ballistic and potentially hypersonic missiles.
As part of the program, the State Department approved a request in November to procure Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) Block I and Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IIIC interceptors.
Germany has requested up to 173 SM-6 Block I and 577 SM-2 Block IIIC missiles for an estimated $3.5 billion.
These ship-launched interceptors are capable of anti-air and anti-surface warfare, as well as ballistic missile defense and sea-based terminal intercepts.
Aegis Combat System
The Aegis Combat System, developed by Lockheed Martin and used by the US Navy since the 1980s, integrates radar, tracking, weapons control, and networking into a single architecture for integrated air and missile defense.
At its core is the AN/SPY phased-array radar, which can simultaneously detect, track, and guide missiles against more than 100 targets. Its command system processes data, prioritizes threats, and selects the appropriate response.
The system employs vertical launch systems and interceptor missiles such as SM-3 and SM-6 to engage ballistic missiles in their midcourse and terminal phases.
The Aegis is deployed on the US Navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Atago-class and Maya-class destroyers, the Republic of Korea Navy’s Sejong the Great-class destroyers, the Royal Australian Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers, and the Spanish Navy’s Álvaro de Bazán-class frigates.