The MEKO family of warships was developed by the German company Blohm+Voss.Miller (1997), p. 879. MEKO is a registered trademark. The portmanteau stands for "Mehrzweck-Kombination" (English: multi-purpose-combination). It is a concept in modern naval shipbuilding based on modularity of armament, electronics and other equipment, aiming at ease of maintenance and cost reduction.

MEKO ships include families of frigates, corvettes and ocean-going patrol boats. Construction of MEKO ships began in the late 1970s with the design and later building of Nigeria's MEKO 360 H1. Vessels of similar classes use different weapons systems. For example, for the main gun, some MEKO 200s use the Mk 45 Mod 2 gun, others use the French 100 mm naval gun or Otobreda 76 mm gun.

The latest variant is the "Combat Ship for the Littorals" or MEKO CSL. It has also been called a "Littoral Combatant Ship", but it is much smaller than the American Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).Boustead Gets Letter Of Intent To Build Six Patrol Vessels Malaysian National News Agency ~ BERNAMA, 18 October 2010 There was speculation that this design would be of interest to Israel,Israeli Navy Wants Stealth Corvettes but it was not.MOD: No talks with Germany over sub Ultimately however, Israel opted for four modified K130 Braunschweig-class corvettes, the first of which entered service in late 2020. The new variant is dubbed the . Eight extended versions of MEKO A-100 frigate vessels are planned to be supplied for the Brazilian Navy. The consortium is formed by Germany's Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, Embraer Defense & Security and Atech, a subsidiary of the Embraer Group. The construction of the vessels, which are more than 100 meters long, are planned for the Oceana shipyard in Itajaí.

Models

The following MEKO models are known to have been built, organized by lineage and delivery dates: MEKO 360 (1981) is the earliest MEKO ship. MEKO 140 (1985) is designed as a companion ship of MEKO 360, developed from the Portuguese João Coutinho class corvettes. MEKO 200 (1987) is a frigate design. It evolved into the MEKO A-200 (2001) and the larger MEKO A-300 (planned for Greece and Poland). F123 (1994), F124 (2002), and F125 (2016) are a line of MEKO frigates developed for the German Navy. K130 (2008) is a corvette designed for the German Navy using some F124 technology. Israeli Sa'ar 6 (2021) is a heavily modified descendant. MEKO A-100 (2019) is a current design. The 2012 A-100 is a single corvette developed from the A-200.MEKO® A-100 It is occasionally quoted as the same as the MEKO 100 RMN (2004). The current design is a family of three sizes (all heavier and longer than the 2012 A-100): corvette, light frigate, patrol corvette.

As of July 2026, the MEKO website showcases the follwoing models:

MEKO A-100 Light Frigate. MEKO A-200 Frigate. MEKO A-400 AMD

Vessels

Type Class Country Number Delivery Weight Length o.a. (m) Beam (m) Draught (m) Main gun SAM ASM ImageMEKO 360 H1 1 1981 3,360 tons 125.80 15.00 4.30 Otobreda 127/54 Compact Aspide Otomat MEKO 360 H2 4 1983–1984 3,360 tons125.80 15.00 4.30 Otobreda 127/54 Compact Aspide Exocet MEKO 140 A16 6 1985–2002 1,560 tons 91.20 11.00 3.33 Otobreda 76 mm – Exocet MEKO 200 TN I 4 1987–1989 3,030 tons 110.50 14.204.14 Mk 45 Mod 2 gun RIM-7 Harpoon MEKO 200 PN 3 1991– 3,400 tons 115.90 14.80 4.10 French 100 mm naval gun RIM-7 Harpoon MEKO 200 HN 4 1992 3,360 tons 117.00 14.80 4.10 Mk 45 Mod 2 gun RIM-162 Harpoon MEKO 200 TN II-A 2 1995– 3,100 tons 116.70 14.80 4.10 Mk 45 Mod 2 gun RIM-7, RIM-162 Harpoon MEKO 200 ANZAC 8 (Aus)2 (NZ) 1996–2004 3,500 tons 118.00 14.80 4.10 Mk 45 Mod 4 gun RAN: RIM-162, RNZN: RIM-7, Phalanx Block 1 RAN: HarpoonRNZN: None MEKO 200 TN II-BSalih Reis 2 1998– 3,100 tons 118.00 14.80 4.30 Mk 45 Mod 2 gun RIM-7, RIM-162 Harpoon MEKO A-200 SAN 4 2003–2004 3,700 tons 121.00 16.34 4.40 Otobreda 76 mm Umkhonto Exocet MEKO 100 RMN 6 2004–20101,850 tons 91.10 12.85 3.40 Otobreda 76 mm – – MEKO A-100 1 2019 2,150 tons 95.20 13.30 3.60 Otobreda 76 mm Grom – Corvette 130 (K130) 5 2008– 1,840 tons 88.75 12.80 3.40 Otobreda 76 mm RIM-116 RBS-15 Frigate 123 (F123) 4 1994–1996 3,600 tons 138.85 16.70 4.35 Otobreda 76 mm RIM-116, RIM-7 Exocet, RBS-15 Frigate 124 (F124) 3 2002– 5,690 tons 143.00 17.44 4.86 Otobreda 76 mm RIM-116, RIM-162, RIM-66 Harpoon Frigate 125 (F125) 4 2016- 7,200 tons 149.52 18.80 5.00 Otobreda 127 mm RIM-116 Harpoon MEKO A-200 AN 2 2016- 3,700 tons 122 16.3 4.4 Otobreda 127 mm Umkhonto IR RBS-15 (K130-based, no official model) 42020-2,000 tons90.0012.443.40OTO Melara 76 mmBarak-8, C-DomeHarpoonMEKO A-100 BR 8 2024– 3,500 tons 107.2 165.2 OTO Melara 76 mm CAMM MANSUP MEKO A-200ENAl-Aziz62022–20253,700 tons12014.84.3Otobreda 127 mmMICA NGExocet

See also List of frigate classes in service List of corvette classes in service

Equivalent warship designs of the same era SIGMA Gowind

References

Bibliography

External links

Brandenburg-class @ Naval-Technology Hydra-class @ Naval-Technology MEKO A-class @ Naval-Technology Sachsen-class @ Naval-Technology https://web.archive.org/web/20070927012203/http://www.hansa-online.de/print.asp?artikelID=274 (German) Blohm+Voss Class MEKO® A100 Corvette