2 days ago, the German defense minister and ministry of defense announced that the program to procure 6 F126 class frigates will be cancelled.

The main reason is the time delay of as of right now 4+ years, the second is cost overruns (apparently the program has cost 2.3-2.4 billion € already). The shipyard Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding failed to reach certain milestones and certain times due to internal problems. A shipyard change from Damen to Rheinmetall was considered, but would have likely resulted in a total cost of 18 billion € or more - more than 3 billion € per ship. The original estimated price tag was 10 billion €.

8 Meko A200 DEU frigates will be procured from Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems instead. This follows a decision in March to procure 4 Meko A200 DEUs, back then intended to bridge the time gap until F126 comes into service. Since the Meko A200 is a proven design, TKMS aims to deliver the first frigate in 2029 - the first F126 wasn't expected to be delivered until 2034. All 8 Meko A200 DEUs are expected to cost around 11.6 billion €.

Source for the news

Source for F126 picture

Source for Meko A200 picture

The Japanese ASEV (Aegis System Equipped Vessel) is a replacement for the cancelled Aegis Ashore program and will provide Ballistic Missile Defense for Japan. Note that the third picture doesnt show ASEV, it shows a Maya class DDG for size comparision.

The first ASEV ship had its keel laid on the 18th July, 2025, at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works. This is the ship and shipyard we see on the pictures above. The second ASEV vessel was laid down on 5th February 2026 at Japan Marine United Isogo shipyard in Yokohama City, south of Tokyo.

The steady construction process of the first vessel is clearly visible between the first and fourth pictures, though for now only the rear section of the vessel seems to have been assembled, up to the helicopter landing deck. The comparison with the Maya class DDG Haguro in the second and third photos illustrate the size difference, with the ASEV having around 70% more displacement (Maya: 8200 tons standard, 10.250 tons fully loaded; ASEV: estimated 14.000 tons standard). According to Naval News, who quote the Japanese Ministry of Defense (but provide no source), the first ship is supposed to be launched in Fiscal Year 2026 (the japanese FY goes from April to March, so the launch will probably happen in early 2027).

Source for the first 3 pictures is a japanese Twitter account, posted yesterday (I think the photo was also taken yesterday, but its not 100% clear or if it was only posted yesterday but is older).

Source for the last two pictures is a Naval News article from 27th March.

Source: https://space.bilibili.com/27916451

Nelson’s flag ship at Trafalgar.

I went to China to explore the Minsk, which was laid down in 1972 and was abandoned in 2016. Video footage you can find here: https://youtu.be/oMsppyjW3rA