Although designated as frigates, they are comparable to destroyers in capability and were intended to replace the Navy's Lütjens class.
They are similar to the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën class, in that both are based on the use of a common primary anti-air warfare system built around the APAR and SMART-L radars as well as the area-defence SM-2 Block IIIA and point-defence Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) surface-to-air missiles.
[2] The ships' hulls were designed on the pattern of the previous Brandenburg class to allow for great commonality of parts to reduce maintenance costs; they were built using MEKO modular construction and incorporate seven watertight compartments.
[2] The ships of the Sachsen class are equipped with a combined diesel and gas (CODAG) propulsion system.
[2] In January 2003, Hamburg had a modified Panzerhaubitze 2000 turret with a 155 mm (6.1 in) gun fitted experimentally for the Modular Naval Artillery Concept.
[2] Sachsen and her sister ships are equipped with a flight deck and hangar that can accommodate two Super Lynx or NH90 helicopters.
The SMART-L and APAR sets are highly complementary, in the sense that SMART-L is an L band radar providing very long range surveillance while APAR is an X 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.
[7] In 2013, Atlas Elektronik and Thales Deutschland were awarded a contract to modernize the frigates command system, with the project to be completed by 2017.
[8] In August 2021, the German armed forces' procurement agency (BAAINBw) awarded a contract to German and Israeli companies Hensoldt and IAI, under which the Sachsen-class frigates will have their obsolete SMART-L long-range radar replaced by a new AESA radar system designated as TRS-4D/LR ROT.
[5] While serving in NATO Standing Maritime Force 1 in 2004, Sachsen took part in training operations with the United States' aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
In addition, Hamburg became the first German ship to fully integrate into an American carrier strike group in March 2013.
In March 2015, Hessen and the frigates Karlsruhe and Brandenburg took part in Operation Good Hope, a training exercise conducted with the South African Navy.
[13] In January 2024, Hessen departed from Wilhelmshaven port and headed towards the Gulf of Aden, where she currently partakes in EUNAVFOR Aspides, the EU mission to protect commercial traffic against Iran-backed Houthi attacks, which have used Anti-Ship missiles and combat drones to attack freight ships there in an attempt to force Israel to stop their Gaza operation.
Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called it "the Navy's most dangerous mission in decades".
[16] Rumors emerged in July 2013 that the Israeli Navy had agreed to procure two destroyers from Germany for €1 billion.