[14][15] Until 1 January 2021, the project was known under the working title MKS 180 or Multi-Purpose Combat Ship 180 (Mehrzweckkampfschiff 180[16]), with 180 indicating the class’s planned complement.

Similar to the Baden-Württemberg class however, they will also be able to stay at sea for up to two years[17] without requiring maintenance at port, with crews rotating to and from the deployed ship every four months.

This capability is expected to allow for a more efficient use of hulls by reducing the time spent during transfer from Germany to conflict zones such as the sea off the Horn of Africa where German ships repeatedly took part in counter-piracy missions such as Operation Atalanta, patrolling large areas for a long time.

In this case, the "detention module" enables the crew to detain suspects and if need be quarantine them in a purpose-built medical facility.

In reference to the five K130-class corvettes which were set to replace the older 143 Albatros class,[19] the project was termed MÜKE (Mittlere Überwasserkampfeinheit) or K131.

[21] Crucially, the MKS 180 project had now grown to be the replacement for the four aging F123 Brandenburg-class frigates, representing the Navy's primary ASW capability.

[19] The 2015 tender was open for bids from European companies, with Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen deciding not to prevent foreign bidders from participating under national security reasons.

Several companies participated, among them:[22] In mid 2017, BAE Systems, offering a ship based on the Type 26, withdrew from the tender and in March 2018 the German government excluded the Thyssenkrupp/Lürssen consortium.

[25] German Naval Yards protested the award, delaying the required legally binding contract signature.

However, the company withdrew its protest when it and Lürssen announced they would pool their naval shipbuilding in a joint venture[26] and that the Kiel shipyard would participate in construction.

According to Schleswig-Holsteins Minister of the Economy, Bernd Buchholz (FDP), this is a common practice in other European countries where government can even directly own stakes in national shipyards.