K130 Batch-2 corvette Lübeck christened at Blohm+Voss; Rheinmetall's first after NVL buy

Lübeck is the fifth and final Batch-2 corvette, joining sisterships Köln, Emden, Karlsruhe and Augsburg already commissioned or under acceptance trials. Combined with the four Batch-1 hulls in service since 2008, the Class 130 fleet now stands at ten corvettes — the largest single class in the modernised Bundesmarine surface fleet and the principal littoral-warfare platform for Baltic operations.

Vice Admiral Axel Deertz, BAAINBw lead Jürgen Giefer and Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger attended the ceremony. Papperger's presence carried a procedural significance beyond the technical handover — it is the first major naval-industrial event under Rheinmetall's ownership of the former NVL Naval Systems business, the acquisition of which closed on 1 March 2026. Hartpunkt reporting on 29 April identified the christening as the operational confirmation of Rheinmetall's surface-combatant prime status.

The K130 Batch-2 closure also preserves industrial throughput at Blohm+Voss and German Naval Yards Kiel ahead of the F126 final-offer phase running through May, the Rheinmetall naval-systems posture documented in Signal No. 50. The next Bundesmarine surface-combatant build cycle on these yards will be the K131-class littoral-strike successor, the requirement for which the BMVg is expected to publish under the 2026 procurement directive.