Rheinmetall Takes the F123 Frigate BAYERN Modernisation at Neue Jadewerft, Running to 2029
Wilhelmshaven, 30 July 2026
Key points
- Rheinmetall received the order to modernise the German Navy frigate BAYERN at the end of the second quarter of 2026, in the mid-three-digit million-euro range
- Work runs to 2029 at Rheinmetall's Neue Jadewerft yard in Wilhelmshaven, one of the four yards acquired with NVL
- Scope: replacement of the combat management system, modernisation of the radar sensor suite, upgrades to anti-submarine warfare capability, and overhaul of essential shipboard engineering equipment including propulsion and drive systems
- BAYERN is 143 metres and entered service in 1996; the modernisation is intended to keep the F123 class operational to at least 2035
- The ship is already berthed at Neue Jadewerft, with major components being removed ahead of the work
Rheinmetall was awarded the modernisation of the German Navy frigate BAYERN at the end of the second quarter, a mid-three-digit-million-euro contract running to 2029 at its Neue Jadewerft yard in Wilhelmshaven.
The scope is a mid-life rebuild rather than a refit. The combat management system is replaced outright, the radar sensors modernised, the anti-submarine warfare fit upgraded, and the propulsion and drive systems overhauled along with the essential shipboard engineering equipment. BAYERN entered service in 1996; the work is intended to hold the F123 class in service to at least 2035, and the ship is already alongside at Wilhelmshaven with major components coming out.
"We are now concentrating fully on on-time delivery," said Tim Wagner, chief executive of Rheinmetall's Naval Systems division — a division that reported EUR 334 million of sales and a EUR 6.3 billion backlog in its first half-year as a segment.
This is what Rheinmetall's naval acquisition actually bought, as distinct from what it was bought for. The company took the former Lürssen yards to prime the F126 frigate programme; Berlin cancelled that programme in June and ordered MEKO A-200s from TKMS instead, taking EUR 300 million out of Rheinmetall's 2026 guidance. Life-extension work on the existing German fleet, at the yards themselves, is the naval revenue that survived the decision — lower-margin and shorter-dated than a new-build class, but contracted and under way. Großwald recorded the award in Signal No. 115. Whether it scales is a separate question: the F123 class has three sister ships, and no order for them has been announced.
Related · Rheinmetall's German naval work
