Valour-class frigate

SAS Spioenkop (F147) (before weapons, various antennas and other equipment were fitted)
Class overview
Name:	Valour class
Builders:	Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Kiel
Operators:	South African Navy
Preceded by:	President class
Cost:	R9.65 billion (final cost for all 4 ships of the class in 2007 currency)
In service:	2006
In commission:	2006
Planned:	5
Completed:	4
Cancelled:	1
Active:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Guided missile frigate
Displacement:	3700 tons
Length:	107.3 m (352 ft) at waterline 121 m (397 ft) overall
Beam:	16.34 m (53.6 ft)
Draught:	5.95 m (19.5 ft)
Propulsion:	CODAG WARP 2 MTU 16V 1163 TB93 diesel engines, 5,920 kilowatts (7,940 hp) each, 2 shafts for cruise; 1 General Electric LM2500, 20,000 kilowatts (27,000 hp) 1 waterjet
Speed:	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range:	8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Endurance:	28 days
Complement:	152 (incl aircrew)
Sensors and processing systems:	Surveillance Radar: Thales Naval France MRR-3D NG G-band multi-role radar Optical Radar Tracker: 2 Reutech RTS 6400 monopulse X-band (I/J bands) combined radar and optronics trackers Electro-optical Tracker: Reutech Electro-optical tracker Identification Friend or Foe: Tellumat Integrated Naval IFF system Target Designation Sights: M-Tek Target Designation Sights Sonar: Thales UMS4132 Kingklip sonar Obstacle avoidance sonar: MDS 3060
Electronic warfare & decoys:	ESM/ECM: Saab Grintek Avitronics SME 100/200 ESM (Intercept and Jammer) & ELINT Decoys: 2 Saab Grintek Avitronics MRL Super Barricade chaff launchers (96 decoys)
Armament:	Anti-ship missiles: 8 MBDA MM 40 Exocet Block 2 surface-to-surface missiles (mounted in two four-cell launchers) Surface-to-Air: 16 Umkhonto surface-to-air missiles in a 16 cell Vertical launching system, can be increased to 32 Naval Guns: 1 Otobreda 76 mm gun 1 Denel 35mm Dual Purpose Gun (CIWS) 2 Mk1 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 2 12.7 mm Rogue remotely operated guns ASW: 4 324 mm (12.8 in) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Welded GL-D36 steel
Aircraft carried:	2 SuperLynx 300, 1 Atlas Oryx, 2 AgustaWestland AW109, 1 Denel Rooivalk or various UAVs (Planned)
Aviation facilities:	Flight deck Enclosed hangar

The South African Valour-class frigates are the major surface ships of the South African Navy. Their German manufacturer designates these warships as the MEKO A-200SAN type, member of its MEKO family of naval ships. They were designed and built using principles of stealthy design, including the extensive use of "X-form" structure design in which right angles and vertical surfaces are avoided, and techniques to reduce the infrared signature, such as expelling pre-cooled exhaust gasses just above the waterline. Blohm + Voss, the designers, claim that this class has the radar signature of a vessel one-half her size, 75% less infrared emissions than previous designs, as well as a 20% lower life-cycle cost, 25% lower displacement, and 30% fewer crewmen.

For most of the 1980s and 1990s, the South African Navy had no operational ships fulfilling the multi-purpose and multi-capable frigate role, which includes guided-missile anti-surface and anti-air warfare roles. The purchase of SAS Good Hope from France was stopped at the last minute in 1977 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 418; one of its three "Type 12" (Rothesay class) anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates, SAS President Kruger, was lost in an accident in 1982, while the last, SAS President Pretorius, was decommissioned in 1986 due to obsolescence.

Project Sitron was part of the Strategic Defence Package (commonly known as the arms deal) signed on December 3, 1999 with the European South African Corvette Consortium (ESACC). The contracts became effective on April 28, 2000. Amatola arrived in South African waters in November 2004, Isandhlwana in February 2005, Spioenkop in May and Mendi in September 2005.