Germany plans to buy four more Meko A-200 frigates from shipyard TKMS for about €5.6 billion ($6.3 billion), a finance ministry document seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday, with parliamentary budget committee approval expected on Thursday.
The purchase follows a decision by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to scrap the rival F126 frigate project with Dutch shipbuilder Damen over delays and cost overruns.
Here are more details from the document, which was prepared for the budget committee of the lower house of parliament:
The second tranche follows four ships of the same type already on order, bringing the total programme to eight frigates with an overall value of €11.6 billion.
The pure construction contract for the additional ships is valued at €5.3 billion, while the remainder covers project support and reserve.
Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2035. Frigates from the first tranche are due to be operational from 2029.
The government expects additional operating costs of €1.55 billion for the four new ships through 2045.
(Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Thomas Seythal; Editing by Paul Simao)