Vasco da Gama-class

The Vasco da Gama class is a series of three frigates operated by the Portuguese Navy. Based on the German MEKO 200 design, the class was authorized by the Portuguese government in 1985 following a 1980 requirement for new surface vessels. Construction was shared between the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg and the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyard in Kiel, Germany. The project utilized modular construction techniques and received 60% of its funding through NATO military aid. Similar variants of the MEKO 200 design are operated by the navies of Greece, Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand.

The vessels utilize a Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) propulsion system driving two shafts with controllable pitch propellers. The sensor suite includes Thales-manufactured air search, air/surface search, and fire-control radars, as well as a hull-mounted sonar. Electronic warfare systems consist of an ESM suite and decoy launchers. Armament includes a 100 mm polyvalent artillery piece, a Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), and triple-mounted torpedo tubes. Missile systems include quad-pack launchers for anti-ship missiles and a guided missile launching system for surface-to-air engagements. Each ship is equipped with a flight deck and hangar to accommodate two Super Lynx Mk.95 helicopters.

The class entered service between 1991 and 1992. NRP Vasco da Gama was commissioned in January 1991, followed by NRP Álvares Cabral in May 1991 and NRP Corte-Real in February 1992. In 2019, the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic approved the Military Programming Law, allocating 125 million euros for the modernization of the class. This program, conducted at the Arsenal do Alfeite shipyard between 2023 and 2027, includes the replacement of RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles with RIM-162 ESSM Block-2 and the update or replacement of the SEWACO system.

The modernization plan designates two frigates for high-intensity combat roles. The third frigate is being updated as a command platform with new communications and management systems to support amphibious raids and the projection of Portuguese Marine Corps forces. NRP Álvares Cabral received a new platform command and control system in 2023. NRP Vasco da Gama has been out of service since 2019 and was observed disarmed with her engines removed in 2023; it is unconfirmed whether she will be modernized or stripped for spares. The funded mid-life upgrade covers only NRP Álvares Cabral and NRP Corte-Real, for which NATO's support agency issued a request for proposals in May 2025 to modify one hull between 2026 and 2028 with an option on the second.