“Arbitrary decision”Fregate shipyard accuses Pistorius of breaking the law after F126 cancellation
July 14, 2026, 11:55 pm
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Strong criticism of Boris Pistorius: Damen shipyard lawyer criticizes ‘hasty and arbitrary political decision’. (Photo: photo alliance/dts agency)SplitFollow along:
In 2020, the Ministry of Defense ordered several frigates from the Dutch shipyard Damen. Due to the threat of delivery delays and additional costs, Boris Pistorius is stopping the billion-dollar order – and the shipyard is now defending itself against it legally.
According to media reports, the disruption of the project to build six F126 frigates could become a serious problem for Boris Pistorius. About three weeks after the SPD minister unexpectedly canceled the billion-dollar project, the Damen shipyard involved has made serious accusations against the defense minister and the responsible Bundeswehr procurement department.
The shipyard is considering possible claims for damages with lawyer Peter Gauweiler, Der Spiegel reports. The lawyer spoke of a “hasty and arbitrary political decision.” This was done “without any legal justification.” According to the magazine, the law firm wrote a letter to the Bundeswehr procurement department, the defense minister and the Bundestag budget committee. In it, the lawyer argued that “the refusal of a contract that was established by political parties and uncontrolled by the authorities has no rights and is therefore arbitrary” is unfounded. Accordingly, the procurement department of the Dutch shipyard made it clear shortly before the demolition that it wanted to continue with the project to build six frigates. According to the shipyard’s lawyer, there was also “no prior determination of time, warning or similar warning.”
Pistorius unexpectedly canceled the project in June. The Bundeswehr initially ordered four frigates from the shipyard for the Navy in 2020, during the term of then-minister Ursula von der Leyen. Pistorius expanded the order to include two more frigates in 2024.
When the project ran into difficulties in late 2025, defense company Rheinmetall offered to rescue the project as prime contractor. A few weeks ago, the company offered to complete six frigates it had ordered for about 15 billion euros. Shortly afterwards, Pistorius canceled the entire project due to, among other reasons, soaring costs and the threat of delivery delays.