Aradu 1990
| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comp | Fate |
| Aradu (ex-Republic) | F89 | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, West Germany | 2.5.1979 | 25.1.1980 | 22.2.1982 | in service (2019) |
|
Displacement standard, t |
|
|
Displacement full, t |
3400 |
|
Length, m |
119.0 pp 125.9 oa |
|
Breadth, m |
15.0 |
|
Draught, m |
5.80 |
|
No of shafts |
2 |
|
Machinery |
CODOG: 2 MTU 20V956 TB92 diesels / 2 Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines |
|
Power, h. p. |
11000 / 56000 |
|
Max speed, kts |
30.5 |
|
Fuel, t |
diesel / gas turbine oil 440 |
| Endurance, nm(kts) | 4500(18) |
|
Armament |
8 x 1 Otomat Mk 1 SSM (8 Otomat Mk 1), 1 x 8 Albatros SAM (24 Aspide), 1 x 1 - 127/54 OTO-Melara Compact, 4 x 2 - 40/70 OTO-Melara Compact Twin 40, 2 x 3 - 324 STWS-1 TT (18 A-244S), 1 helicopter (Lynx Mk 89) |
| Electronic equipment | AWS-5D, Decca 1226, WM-25, STIR1.8 radars, DSQS-21 sonar, RDL-2, RCM-2 ECM suites, 2x SCLAR decoy RL, SEWACO BV CCS |
|
Complement |
195 |
Project history: Ordered in 1977 to the MEKO360H design, the first frigate in the world using extensive modular prefabrication and 'containerized' weapons and sensors to speed construction. Renamed 1.11.1980 after launch.
Modernizations: By 2019 all missile systems are long ago time-expired and non-operational.
Naval service: Aradu ran aground in the Congo River in July 1987, collided with a pier in August 1987 at Lagos and also suffered a collision at sea that same year. She was refitted at Lagos from October 1990 to February 1994 but ran aground again during post-refit trials and by 1995 was again inoperable. Went to sea in 1995 and in 1997, when she stranded for two months in Liberia by engine failures, returning to service in 1999.
Aradu 2007
© Ivan Gogin, 2019