The German Ministry of Defence (Bundeswehr) will invest heavily a total of around 13 billion euros. The Navy will get four MKS 180 multi-purpose combat ships. The Eurofighter will be equipped with new radars. In the Hercules follow-up project, BWI, as an in-house service provider, is to guarantee IT information technology operations for the BMVg Federal Ministry of Defense division for another four years. The projects approved by the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag on June 17 with a total volume of around EUR 13 billion were presented as EUR 25 million templates. This includes all procurement and development projects of the Bundeswehr requiring an investment volume of 25 million euros and more.
The Bundeswehr is procuring four MKS 180 (Mehrzweckkampfschiffe, or multi-purpose combat ships), including land-based facilities for training, for around 5.6 billion euros. The Bundeswehr has an option in the contract to purchase two more ships. The special feature of the MKS 180 is that it is equipped for air defense as well as for surface and underwater warfare. The MKS 180 frigate will have a length of 155 meters with a displacement of up to 9,000 tons. With a standard crew of 110 sailors and up to 70 additional crew members, it will be the largest combat ship in service with the Germany Navy. The MKS 180 frigate will be armed with medium and short air defense missile systems, long-range anti-ship missiles.
The Bundeswehr is authorized to conclude four contracts with a total volume of around 2.8 billion euros for new radar technology for the Eurofighter. The money is planned on the one hand for the procurement of the most modern AESA electronically-scanned radars. On the other hand, multi-channel receivers to exploit the performance potential of this future-oriented technology are to be developed and integrated into the Eurofighter. The technologically up-to-date radar system will then have improved detection and identification options with higher immunity to interference. This means that pilots in the Eurofighter will be better able to detect and engage air-to-air and air-to-ground targets.
