Germany’s Defense Ministry canceled the F126 frigate program on June 24, ending plans to build six anti-submarine warships. In their place, the ministry announced plans to procure eight modular MEKO A-200 DEU frigates from German naval shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), pending final parliamentary budget approval.
The German Federal Ministry of Defense confirmed that the plan to procure six F126 frigates has been canceled due to cost. $2.3 billion had already been spent on the project. The frigates would have been the German Navy’s largest warships since WWII. pic.twitter.com/PnQUVO3biI
— Naval Observer (@naval_observer) June 25, 2026
The cancellation pivoted on a condition Berlin refused to accept. Transferring the lead contractor role from Dutch builder Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) to Naval Vessels Lürssen (NVL), the Rheinmetall-owned shipbuilding group negotiating to take over the program since 2025, required Germany to waive potential damage claims against DSNS. The ministry declined, with a legal review of those claims ongoing.
“Better to have a tough ending than a drawn-out state of limbo,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. Pistorius acknowledged that approximately €2.3 billion in public funds had already been spent on the program, and that damage claim recovery carried “little chance of success.”
DSNS was awarded the original contract in 2020 to build six 10,550-ton frigates for roughly €10 billion. An NVL-led continuation would have cost approximately €15.2 billion for the same six hulls. Including work completed under the DSNS contract and associated support agreements, total financial exposure would have exceeded €18 billion, the ministry said.
Germany will now procure eight MEKO A-200 DEU frigates, subject to approval by the Bundestag’s budget committee. The first four hulls are priced at approximately €6.3 billion, with an option for four more at roughly €5.3 billion exercisable through end-2026, for a combined total of €11.6 billion.
The German Navy chief certified the MEKO A-200 DEU as capable of fulfilling Germany’s anti-submarine warfare requirements and NATO obligations.
Rheinmetall shares fell 18% on June 24, one of the company’s worst single-day declines since 1989, according to FactSet. TKMS rose 16%. The Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defense ETF fell 1.1%.
