Another Modern European Warship Suffer “Technical Mishap” in the Red Sea
The latest European warship facing serious technical issues while operating in the Red Sea is the Danish Navy's frigate, Iver Huitfeld, after a German frigate also encountered technical problems which nearly resulted in a "friendly fire" incident with assets belonging to the United States military.
(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — Another European warship has encountered critical issues while engaged in operations in the Red Sea to protect commercial vessels from Houthi’s suicide drone and anti-ship ballistic missiles, forcing abruptly halted operations and return to its home country.
The latest European warship facing serious technical problems is the Danish Navy’s frigate, Iver Huitfeld.
This modern warship reportedly grappled with significant issues involving its active phased array radar and combat management system (C-Flex), thereby compromising its overall performance.
As disclosed by the country’s “Olfi” website, the problematic critical components aboard the Iver Huitfeld were manufactured by Thales Nederland and the Danish company, Terma.
“According to communication from the warship’s captain, the problems faced by the involved components are so severe that it couldn’t utilize its air defense system, RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) for about 30 minutes,” he said.
The ESSM air defense system shields the warship from any threats, be it suicide drones or anti-ship ballistic missiles.
Furthermore, the Danish Navy’s frigate, Iver Huitfeld, also encountered serious issues involving its 76mm cannon, which failed to function in more than one incident during operations.
The failure of these critical systems in operation has exposed the modern warship to danger.
According to the Danish website, the warship’s captain has reported the issues plaguing the critical components of the frigate Iver Huitfeld, but no remedial action has been taken.
Moreover, the warship was still deployed to active war zones despite facing technical issues.
The Danish Navy’s frigate, Iver Huitfeld, is currently sailing back to Denmark.
In the past February, the German Navy’s frigate of the Type 124 class-Sachsen, “FGS Hessen,” was reported to have attempted to shoot down an “unidentified” drone in the Red Sea using its air defense missile system, which was later identified as belonging to the United States.
The German Navy frigate was fortunate not to face embarrassment as the technical malfunction of its SM-2 (Standard Missile-2) guided missile caused the attempt to shoot down the “unidentified drone” on February 26 to fail.
The “unidentified drone” was later identified by the German Navy as the MQ-9 “Reaper” belonging to the United States, operating in the waters of the Red Sea.
The technical “failure” of the missile system of the German frigate, saved the German Navy from embarrassment of “misfire,” leading to the destruction of assets belonging to friendly forces.
The German Navy frigate “FGS Hessen” is in the waters of the Red Sea as part of “Operation Aspides” launched by the European Union to address threats from the Houthi group against merchant ships passing through the area.
According to information, after the German warship “FGS Hessen” detected the presence of the “unidentified drone,” it attempted to identify it with the US military but failed, leading it to launch SM-2 guided missiles in an attempt to shoot it down.
Reports from the German media “Spiegel” stated that both SM-2 guided missiles experienced technical problems, causing failure to shoot down the “unidentified drone.” — DSA
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