The class is built on the experience gained from the Absalon-class command and support ships, and by reusing the basic hull design of the Absalon class the Royal Danish Navy have been able to construct the Iver Huitfeldt class considerably cheaper than comparable ships. The frigates are compatible with the Danish Navy's StanFlex modular mission payload system used in the Absalons, and are designed with slots for six modules.
While the Absalon class ships are primarily designed for command and support roles, with a large ro-ro deck, the planned three new Iver Huitfeldt frigates will be equipped for a fighting role, and the potential to use Tomahawk cruise missiles, a first for the Danish Navy.
| Iver Huitfeldt Class Frigate | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Odense Staalskibsværft |
| Operators: | Royal Danish Navy |
| Preceded by: | Niels Juel-class corvette |
| Built: | 2008-2011 |
| In commission: | 2012 onwards |
| Building: | 3 |
| Planned: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Air defence frigate |
| Displacement: | 6,645 tonnes (full load) |
| Length: | 138.7 m (455 ft) |
| Beam: | 19.75 m (64.8 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.3 m (17 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Four MTU 8000 20V M70 diesel engines, 8 MW each. |
| Speed: | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range: | 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 165 |
| Crew: | 101 |
| Sensors and processing systems: | 1 Thales Nederland SMART-L long-range air and surface surveillance radar 1 Thales Nederland APAR air and surface search, tracking and guidance radar (I band)Atlas ASO 94 sonar 2 Saab CEROS 200 fire control radars ES-3701 Tactical Radar Electronic Support Measures (ESM) |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: | 4 × 12-barrelled Terma DL-12T 130 mm decoy launchers 2 × 6-barrelled Terma DL-6T 130 mm decoy launchers Seagnat Mark 36 SRBOC |
| Armament: | 4 x VLS with up to 32 SM-2 IIIA surface-to-air missiles (Mk 41 VLS) 2 × VLS with up to 24 RIM-162 ESSM (Mk 56 VLS) 8-16 × Harpoon Block II SSM 1 × Oerlikon Millennium 35 mm Naval Revolver Gun System CIWS 2 x Otobreda 76 mm 2 × dual MU90 Impact ASW torpedo launchers |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × EH-101 |
| Aviation facilities: | Aft helicopter deck and hangar |
These ships share their Anti-Air Warfare suite with the Royal Netherlands Navy's De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates and the German Navy's Sachsen-class frigates. The sensors of this suite include the long range surveillance radar SMART-L and the multi-function radar APAR. The SMART-L and APAR are highly complementary, in the sense that SMART-L is a L band radar providing very long range surveillance while APAR is an I band radar providing precise target tracking, a highly capable horizon search capability, and missile guidance using the Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI) technique, thus allowing guidance of 32 semi-active radar homing missiles in flight simultaneously, including 16 in the terminal guidance phase. The primary anti-air weapons are the point defence Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and the area defence SM-2 IIIA. The Mk 41 Vertical Launch System is used to house and launch these missiles. Up to 24 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and 32 SM-2 IIIA may be carried.
