The MEKO 140 is a frigate design by the German Blohm + Voss shipyard as part of the MEKO family of vessels. The MEKO 140 is development of the Portuguese Navy's João Coutinho class corvettes - designed by the Portuguese naval engineer Rogério de Oliveira in the late 1960s - three ships of which were built Blohm + Voss in 1970, as an outsourcing.