On the morning of September 13th, the German patrol ship Baden-Württemberg and the supply ship Frankfurt passed through the Taiwan Strait from north to south, marking the first time German warships have sailed through the Taiwan Strait since 2002. This rare occurrence comes as part of Germany’s bold return to the Indo-Pacific region in 2021, including crossing the South China Sea. The decision to pass through the Taiwan Strait was heavily discussed in advance and faced strong protests from Beijing. However, Germany proceeded with the planned passage, sending a clear message to the Chinese Communist Party that it stands with Western nations in emphasizing that the Taiwan Strait is international waters, Taiwan is not part of China, and the Taiwan Strait is not Chinese territorial waters.
The German Navy is not particularly well-known to many, with its conventional diesel submarines being one of its most recognized assets, including the 209, 212, and 214 classes. Twenty years ago, Germany retired its last Lütjens-class destroyer, making patrol ships its largest warships, featuring a total of 16 patrol ships and 6 conventional diesel submarines. These include 4 F-125 Baden-Württemberg-class ships, 3 F-124 Sachsen-class ships, 4 F-123 Brandenburg-class ships, 5 K-130 lightweight patrol ships, and 6 212A-class submarines equipped with fuel cells. The Baden-Württemberg, which crossed the Taiwan Strait this time, is the lead ship of the F-125 class.
The initial design of the F-125 reflects the typical mindset of Western navies in the early post-Cold War era. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the sudden disappearance of the strong conventional naval threat it posed, Western naval planning in the early post-Cold War era focused on regional conflicts, humanitarian aid, and stabilizing regional situations. This led to a decreased emphasis on traditional conventional combat threats, such as air and sea warfare, and anti-submarine warfare. Therefore, the F-125 is not equipped with any shipborne anti-submarine weapons and mainly relies on anti-submarine helicopters to launch torpedoes. It is also only equipped with fixed sonar and lacks trailing array sonar or a vertical launch system that can carry air defense and land attack missiles.
Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, tensions in Europe heightened. The German Navy initiated the successor shipbuilding project for the F-125, known as the F-126 project. The F-126 patrol ship is designed to adapt to long-term ocean deployment missions, featuring a modular mission bay design to accommodate various combat roles. It can be equipped with mission modules for fleet air defense/anti-submarine warfare, with air defense missiles including the Standard 2 and Enhanced Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). As a result, the F-126 will have a displacement exceeding 10,000 tons, a length of 166 meters, a beam of 21.7 meters, a draft of 5.9 meters, and a crew of 198.
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