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Valour class frigate SAS Mendi

The South African Valour class frigates are the major surface ships of the South African Navy. The German manufacturer designates them as the MEKO A-200SAN class, member of its MEKO family of naval ships. They were designed and built using principles of stealthy design, including the extensive use of "X-form" structure design in which right angles and vertical surfaces 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 signature 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.

Propulsion is from "Combined Diesel And Gas turbine and Waterjet And Refined Propellors" (CODAG WARP).

• 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 diesel engines, 5,920 kW each, 2 shafts for cruise;
  • 1 gas turbine, 20,000 kW, 1 waterjet
• Speed
  • (CODAG): About 30 knots (56 km/h)
  • one diesel only: 18 knots (33 km/h)
  • two diesels only: 23 knots (43 km/h)
  • gas turbine only: 25 knots (46 km/h)
• Max Speed: 27 knots
  
• Range at 16 knots (30 km/h): Over 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km)
• Endurance (stores): 28 days

The four Valour class frigates 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.

Each of the Valour class ships has the following armament:

• One Otobreda 76 mm gun.
• Two 35 mm LIW (Denel) 35DPG dual purpose twin-barreled guns.
• Two Oerlikon 20 mm guns.
• 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 launch systems).
• Torpedoes using two twin 324 mm 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).

• Naval Technology page on MEKO A
• South African Navy: Valour Class frigate page