TKMS to modernise sonars for German Navy Type 332 minehunters

German Navy Frankenthal (Type 332C)-class coastal minehunter Dillingen (M 1065). (US Navy)

TKMS announced in a press release on 23 October that it had been awarded a contract to modernise the minehunting sonars on the German Navy's Frankenthal (Type 332)-class coastal minehunters/mine clearance diving vessels by the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr: BAAINBw).

TKMS will supply its hull-mounted HMS-12M sonar to replace the Atlas Elektronik DSQS-11M sonars currently fitted to the Type 332s. The modernisation work will be undertaken during scheduled layovers for the ships of the class.

HMS-12M is a hull-mounted, active, triple-frequency (low, high, and very-high frequency), high-resolution minehunting sonar. The sonar is based on the technology of the DSQS-12M and is associated with the Atlas Elektronik Integrated Mine Countermeasures System (IMCMS). HMS-12M can be used for minehunting, mine and obstacle avoidance, and route survey tasks, and can locate anchored, bottom, or semi-buried mines in the water column or on the seabed. The sonar can also continuously track detected objects in conditions up to Sea State 5.

The Type 332s have a displacement of 650 tonnes and a length of 54.5 m. There are three Type 332 variants in German Navy service: five Type 332C and three Type 332CL minehunters (the latter distinguished by their ability to control the Seehund-class minesweeping drones) alongside two Type 332B class mine-clearance diving vessels. An upgrade programme saw the 332Cs and 332CLs receive the IMCMS combat data system and SeaFox disposable/one-shot mine destructor system between 2009 and 2020, while the 332Bs are also expected to receive IMCMS in due course. Meanwhile, four Atlas Elektronik SeaCat autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) were also ordered for the Type 332C/CL class in October 2023.