The German navy is to procure additional K130-class corvettes, which it has used on missions in the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean and the Horn of Africa.

The need for the corvettes was underlined by German navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Andreas Krause at a navy meeting earlier this month.

"These ships will not just reinforce the emergency missions that the German Navy was assigned, they will also allow [us] to resume operations in the northern flank, which has been neglected."

According to the German military, the navy originally five K130 corvettes an now finds it needs more because of the increasing efforts and increased demands on NATO.

The K130 corvettes have demonstrated their capabilities in anti-piracy operations, sea rescue operations, and maritime NATO deployments.

The K130 corvette is capable of worldwide deployment and are optimized for patrol and control missions, especially in coastal waters.

The K130 displaces 2,028 tons and has a speed of 28 knots. Its range is 4,000 nautical miles at 15 knots.

The German navy currently has five such ships based on the Baltic coast.