German Navy Frigates Get New Firefighting Tech

On April 16, 2015, the second of four ordered Type F125 frigates for the German Navy was christened by the name of Nordrhein-Westfalen in Hamburg. Hamburg-based Noske-Kaeser, technology producer in the fields of firefighting, CBRN defense, climate, refrigeration and air conditioning systems, has further developed its fire extinguishing technology for the new frigate class F125 that was now installed on the first German Navy ship.

“We provide turnkey solutions for firefighting systems for nearly every area of the four 125 class frigates,” said David Schwenzer, Project Manager F125 at Noske-Kaeser.

Robert Megyery, Head of Engineering, Piping and Firefighting at Noske-Kaeser, explained, “Due to the new operating conditions of this new frigate type, such as the reduced crew concept or longer presence periods in the area of operation, it requires new solutions concerning firefighting. For this reason, we developed the most modern and low-maintenance firefighting concepts for the F125. These concepts are now realized and ready for operation aboard the new frigates for the first time.”

Besides the first time application of a sprinkler system for the prevention of fire in the ship’s crew accommodation, Noske-Kaeser provides the newly developed KiFEx extinguishing system for firefighting purposes in the galley and a foam system including two shock-resistant monitors that can be used for firefighting on the landing deck as well as non-lethal weapons. For the protection of engine rooms and helicopter hangars Noske-Kaeser adapted its HyFEx systems for the needs of the F125. CO2 appliances for gas turbines and electric diesel engines, powder extinguishing systems in the hangars, Novec firefighting systems for the protection of IT facilities, sprinkler systems for ammunition dumps and CBRN mist systems are part of the package Noske-Kaeser provides for the 125 class frigates as well. The company is one of the leading technology suppliers for the German Navy and provides not only hardware, but independently plans and realizes the construction, implementation, installation and commissioning of its systems.

“The F125 is the newest class of frigates we provided with specially designed and state-of-the-art technologies. Prior to the F125 we had developed turnkey solutions for the frigate types F122, F123, F124 and the corvettes K130 for the German Navy,” said Jürgen Matthes, CEO of Noske-Kaeser.

The first F125 that is equipped by Noske-Kaeser, the Baden-Württemberg, was already christened in 2013 and is scheduled to be delivered to the German Navy in 2017. Until 2020 all four frigates will be delivered to the German Navy by the industry.