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Frigate SAS Amatola (F145)

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Classification

Ship class:
Valour-class frigate (MEKO A-200SAN) MEKO 200 frigate
Type:
Frigate

Basic information

Namesake:
The Amatola Mountains where British forces fought the Xhosas in late 1852.
Operator:
South African NavySouth African Navy
Country of build:
Builder:
Blohm + Voss
Ordered:
Laid down:
Launched:
Commissioned (service):
Status:
Active
MMSI number:
601350000

Ship measurements

Displacement:
3,759 t
Length:
121 m
Beam (waterline):
16.34 m
Draft:
5.95 m

Machine

Propulsion system:
CODAG WARP
Propulsion:
  • 2 * MTU 16V 1163 TB93 diesel engines, 5,920 kilowatts (7,940 hp) each
  • 2 * shafts for cruise
  • 1 * General Electric LM2500, 20,000 kilowatts (27,000 hp)
  • 1 * waterjet
Speed:
30 knots
Range:
8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)

Personnel

Complement:
152

Combat assets

Armor:

Welded GL-D36 steel

Electronics:
  • Thales Naval France MRR-3D NG G-band multi-role radar
  • 2 * Reutech RTS 6400 monopulse X-band (I/J bands) combined radar and optronics trackers
  • Reutech Electro-optical tracker
  • Tellumat Integrated Naval IFF system
  • M-Tek Target Designation Sights
  • Thales UMS4132 Kingklip sonar
  • MDS 3060 obstacle avoidance sonar
  • Saab Grintek Avitronics SME 100/200 ESM (Intercept and Jammer) & ELINT
  • 2 * Saab Grintek Avitronics MRL Super Barricade chaff launchers (96 decoys)
Armament:
  • 2 * 4 MBDA MM 40 Exocet Block 2 surface-to-surface missiles
  • 16 * Umkhonto surface-to-air missiles in a 16 cell Vertical launching system, can be increased to 32
  • 1 * Otobreda 76 mm gun
  • 1 * Denel 35mm Dual Purpose Gun (CIWS)
  • 2 * Mk1 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
  • 2 * 12.7 mm Rogue remotely operated guns
  • 4 * 324 mm (12.8 in) torpedo tubes
Aircraft:
  • 1 * SuperLynx 300 (can carry 2)
  • Helipad
  • Hangar

SAS Amatola (F145) is the first of four Valour-class frigates for the South African Navy by the European South African Corvette Consortium.

Amatola, in keeping with a naming convention depicting acts of valour, was named after the Amatola mountain range in the Eastern Cape area where British forces fought the Xhosa nation in late 1852. Mrs Zanele Mbeki (wife of then President Thabo Mbeki), named the vessel at the Blohm & Voss Thyssen Rheinstahl, Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW) and Thales shipyards in Germany just after noon on 7 June 2002.

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