The South African Valour class patrol corvettes will be (as of early 2004) the major surface units of the South African Navy. The German manufacturer designates them as the MEKO A-200SAN class, successors to the MEKO class. They are built to a stealthy design, through the extensive use of "X-form" structure design in which right angles are avoided and techniques to reduce the infrared signature, such as exiting the exhaust below the waterline. Blohm + Voss, the designers, claim the class has the radar cross section of a vessel half its size, 75% less infrared signature than previous designs as well as a 20% lower life cycle cost, 25% less displacement and 30% fewer crew.

Contents

1 Ships of the class 2 Specifications 3 History 4 Armament 5 External links

Ships of the class

ship name	Builder	laid down	launched	delivered	in service
SAS Amatola (F145)	Blohm + Voss Hamburg	2 Aug 2001	6 Jun 2002	2003	2005
SAS Isandlwana (F146)	Howaldtswerke Kiel	26 Oct 2001	5 Dec 2002	2004	2005
SAS Spioenkop (F147)	Blohm + Voss Hamburg	28 Feb 2002	2 Aug 2003	2004	2005
SAS Mendi (F148)	Howaldtswerke Kiel	28 Jun 2002	Oct 2003	2004	2005

Specifications

Length, overall: 121 m
Length, waterline: 107,3 m
Beam, overall: 16,34 m
Max displacement: 3 700 tons
Draught, navigation: 5,95 m
Crew (incl helicopter): 124
Propulsion: CODAG WARP: (2 diesels 5920 kW each, 2 shafts for cruise; 1 gas turbine 20000 kW, 1 waterjet)
Speed (CODAG): About 30 knots
Speed, 1 x diesel only: 18 knots
Speed, 2 x diesels only: 23 knots
Speed, gas turbine only: 25 knots
Max Speed: 27 knots
Range at 16 knots: Over 8 000 nautical miles
Endurance (stores): 28 days

Note: CODAG WARP: COmbined Diesel And Gas turbine and Waterjet And Refined Propellors.

History

The four Valour class patrol corvettes are a German design by the firm Blohm + Voss, designated as MEKO A-200SAN by the shipbuilders, and are part of Blohm + Voss's MEKO series of frigates. Similar ships are being built in Poland for the Polish Navy.

They are/were built by Blohm + Voss shipyards in Germany, two in Hamburg and the other two in Kiel.

Armament

Each of the Valour class ships has the following armament:

• One 76 mm Oto Breda gun.
• Two 35 mm LIW (Denel) 35DPG dual purpose twin-barreled guns.
• Two 20 mm Oerlikon Mk1 cannon.
• Eight MBDA MM 40 Exocet Block 2 surface-to-surface missiles (mounted in two four-cell launchers).
• Sixteen Umkhonto surface-to-air missiles (mounted in two eight-cell vertical launchers).
• Torpedoes using two twin 324mm tubes (i.e. four tubes in total).

Each vessel will also carry a Westland Super Lynx medium-sized helicopter.
However, the flexibility of the hangar and flight-deck design enables a wide range of helicopter options to fit requirements, such as: 2 Westland Super Lynx helicopters (sea state 6 day and night operation); or 1 Westland Super Lynx plus 2 drone UAVs; or 1 Atlas Oryx (sea state 5 day and night operation); or 1 Rooivalk (sea state 5 day and night operation).

External links

• Naval Technology page on MEKO A (http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/meko/index.html)