The Sachsen-class German frigate FGS Hessen (F 221) is deployed in the Red Sea along with the U.S. Navy. It conducts maritime security operations and theatre security cooperation missions in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. It was deployed at the Red Sea after approval by the German Parliament for the country’s participation in the EU operation, “Aspides” It was moved from the NATO base of Souda to the Red Sea. There, shortly after her arrival to the region, she fired two anti-aircraft missiles (SM-2) on February 24 against an unknown UAV. According to marineforum.online SM-2 missiles missed the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper ISR UAV piloted from the US CENTCOM in Bahrain. Not only did Germany open fire on a U.S. aircraft since the end of the Second World War, but it also missed the UAV even if it was flying at low speed without a self-defence system.
The online publication shares a briefing of the German Parliament in the past few days and gives new information about what happened;
On 2/24/24, the frigate Hessen spotted a suspicious UAV aircraft. Hessen informed allied ships and aircraft in the area about the UAV and initiated self-defence measures prescribed by the rules of engagement. The missiles fired failed to hit their target, resulting in the UAV, which later belonged to an allied country, not being shot down. This is due to a technical error in the radar on the frigate. The error was quickly identified and fixed immediately. So, there are no more problems in the process chain of the system that was used. “
The F124 class Hessen frigate is designed for area air defence. The frigate is equipped with the SMART-L radar and the APAR fire control radar, the combat management system and the SM-2 missiles, which technologically date back to the late 1990s. The APAR, which provided the two missiles with the engagement data, might have caused the failure as the SMART-L detected the MQ-9.
German failure is not limited to this incident. Hessen shot down on February 26 two drones approaching from the coast of Yemen. First, the ship detected a target on its radar and fired at the ESSM missile shortly after, which also failed! So, the boat shot down the drone with the 76mm naval cannon. About 15 minutes later, a second one was spotted, which was dealt with by the RAM launcher. The successful use of both weapons, though intended for engagements at close ranges of a few kilometres, indicates how close the threats were to the vessel.
