margin-right:0in">Those failings, they say, result from Germany’s military brass never settling on a defined brief for the vessel. When planning began in 2003, naval staff wanted an all-rounder that could tangle with Russian destroyers in the Baltic and serve as a base for humanitarian missions in tropical waters. Then, in 2005, they decided the ship didn’t need all of its predecessor’s heavy weaponry and should focus more on attacking enemies on land, inclu-ding by ferrying marines into combat.

 

Given Russia’s aggressive stance in the Baltic Sea, naval experts say that now appears to have been a mis-calculation. The ship’s great weight—already almost twice that of the frigate model it is replacing—makes adding further weapons very difficult.  “These problems stem...

Please subscribe to keep reading.