Seen in September while still on trials (and hence without her pendant number) is the second German Navy Brandenburg-class (Klasse 123) frigate, Schleswig-Holstein, a name that commemorates the pre-dreadnought battleship that fired the opening rounds of World War II, as well as one of modern Germany’s now-retired post-World War II destroyers. The current Schleswig-Holstein was expected to commission at the beginning of December 1995, and the last of four ships in the class is to enter service at the end of this year. Designed for low radar reflectivity, the 4,490-ton ships also are immensely strong, in part because of two 1.2-meter square box girders that run 80% of their length along the sides of the upper deck and a third 1.5 X 0.6-meter box girder along the centerline.
In addition to eight antiship missiles, the 29-knot frigates are armed with 16 vertical-launch Sea Sparrow surface-to- air missiles (with provision to double the number later) and two 21-cell RAM launchers. Other weaponry includes a In addition to building seven more heavily armed near-sisters to the U.S. Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) class and having six La Fayette-class frigates built in France, Taiwan is maintaining its technological ascendancy at sea over mainland China by purchasing retired Knox (FF-1052)-class frigates from the United States. An initial trio was commissioned in October 1993, and a second trio (represented here by the Lan Yang, former Joseph Hewes [FFT-1078]) on 4 August 1995. Two additional batches of three are planned, and by the end of the century, Taiwan should have a fleet of 25 modern frigates. All of the frigates are—or will be—equipped with towed-array sonars and antisubmarine-capable helicopters, and carry either Taiwanese Hsiung Feng 11 or U.S.-supplied Harpoon antiship missiles.
The launch of the first of two Royal New Zealand Navy MEKO-200AN frigates, the Te Kaha, came on 22 July 1995 in Australia. Unlike eight sisters on order for the Royal Australian Navy, the pair will be armed and equipped primarily for ocean-patrol duties, although provision has been made for later addition of antisubmarine weapons and sensors. In the interim, the Te Kaha will commission in March 1998 armed only with eight vertical-launch Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles and a 127-mm U.S. Mk 45 Mod.2 dual-purpose gun. An international competition was ongoing at the end of 1995 to determine who would supply helicopters for the MEKO-200ANs and the two New Zealand Leander-class frigates that will remain in service into the next century.