German frigate mistakenly released two missiles on American UAV MQ-9 in the Red Sea

The American drone was lucky because the equipment of the ship "failed" and two rockets fell into the sea. From the moment of arrival in the Red Sea a few days ago, the Bundesmarina Fregate Hessen just arrived in the Red Sea on February 27, destroyed two Hussite drones launched near its patrol area. At the same time, the ship released two anti-aircraft missiles on the American MQ-9 Reaper drone after an unsuccessful attempt to identify it. About it reports Spiegel.

The authors of the material refer to the German Defense Ministry, where they allegedly reported that the frigate had opened fire because none of its allies reported the presence of a US reconnaissance drone in the area. Moreover, MQ-9 remained whole only because the equipment "failed" and two rockets fell into the sea. Military officials emphasize that this incident shows the need to improve coordination between different friendly missions in the Red Sea.

The Hessen frigate, who left Germany on February 8, is one of the three F124 Sachsen class, which is in service with the Navy of Germany. This 143-meter ship of 5800 tons, which was put into operation in 2006, is also one of the best weapons in the German Navy.

Its weapon consists of 76 mm gun from Italian Oto Melara, vertical starting systems VLS MK41 with 32 mines, two anti-ship launches of Harpoon, two torpedoes armed with MU 90, as well as two CIWS RAM systems, each of which armed 21 the range. VLS frigate contains a medium-range anti-aircraft missile SM-2 Block III with a range of up to 160 km, as well as RIM-162 EssM anti-aircraft missiles up to 50 km.