The Brazilian Navy officially started the construction of F203 Mariz e Barros, the fourth frigate of the Tamandaré class, with the first sheet metal cutting ceremony held at the Estaleiro Brasil Sul shipyard in the city of Itajaí in the state of Santa Catarina.
The shipyard is owned by the German company TKMS and operates in Brazil through Estaleiro Brasil Sul.
Activity Brazilian Navy It was announced by and took place with the participation of Naval Program Management Director, Vice Admiral Marcelo da Silva Gomes. Gomes started the cutting machine and TKMS It symbolized the official start of the construction of the new frigate at the shipyard.
According to the program schedule, F203 is planned to be launched in 2027 and join the Brazilian Navy inventory in 2029. With the start of construction of the fourth ship, Estaleiro Brasil Sul has reached the peak of its production capacity and all the first four frigates are being built simultaneously in the country. At the same time, the localization rate of the program has already reached 40%.
The lead ship of the class, Tamandaré (F200), was launched in August 2024, conducted sea acceptance tests during August–December 2025, and is expected to be transferred to the Navy’s operational headquarters in the first half of 2026. The second ship, F201 Jerônimo de Albuquerque, is expected to start sea tests in mid-2026, while the third ship, F202 Cunha Moreira, is planned to be launched in July 2026.
Tamandaré-class frigate
In March 2020, following the international tender process launched in 2013, the Brazilian Navy signed a contract worth 9.1 billion reais for the construction of four ships under the Tamandaré program, initially classified as corvettes and later reclassified as frigates. The project is based on the MEKO A100 design submitted by TKMS.
Tamandaré class frigates have a standard and maximum fully loaded displacement of 3,380 tonnes and 3,500 tonnes. The ships have a length of 107.2 meters, a width of 16 meters and a draft of 5.2 meters. The drive system is based on two shafts driven by four MAN 12V 28/33 DSTC diesel engines with 7,320 hp each.
Predicted weapon equipment; MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 2 or 3 anti-ship missiles or domestic MANSUP missile; 12-cell vertical launcher for the MBDA Sea Ceptor medium-range air defense system equipped with CAMM missiles; 76 mm/62 Leonardo OTO Melara Super Rapid naval gun; 30 mm Rheinmetall Sea Snake 30 remote-controlled gun; two remote-controlled FN Herstal Sea Defender 12.7 mm machine guns; two 7.62 mm six-barreled M134 machine guns; It also includes two triple 324 mm SEA TLS-TLT anti-submarine torpedo launchers.
The ship also has a Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk or Westland Super Lynx Mk 21B It has a hangar and flight deck that allows continuous operation of the submarine defense helicopter, which significantly increases the ship’s submarine defense and maritime surveillance capabilities.
Source and images: Brazilian Navy. This content was created with the support of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.
