K130 Braunschweig-class

The K130 Braunschweig class is a German Navy corvette class designed to replace older fast attack craft while adding better endurance, survivability, and networked combat capability. The ships are sized for littoral operations but carry weapons and sensors that let them contribute to multinational crisis-response forces.

The K130 class combines RBS15 anti-ship missiles, Rolling Airframe Missile point defense, a 76 mm gun, electronic support measures, decoys, and modern search radar. This makes the ships useful for sea denial, coastal patrol, maritime interdiction, and escort tasks in confined or politically sensitive waters.

The class illustrates Germany's shift from Cold War coastal missile boats toward more deployable, automated corvettes. Additional batches keep the design relevant by replacing aging small combatants and sustaining German naval presence in the Baltic, North Sea, and expeditionary operations.