Procurement of four additional submarines for the Navy. Armaments cooperation between Germany and Norway is growing

Koblenz, 19 December 2024 – With a contract signed by the President of the Bundeswehr Procurement Office, Annette Lehnigk-Emden, the number of U212CD (Common Design) submarines to be procured for the Bundeswehr together with Norway will increase significantly from two to six. The agreement with the company thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, originally concluded in July 2021, initially included the production and delivery of six identical submarines, two of which were for Germany and four for Norway.

With the contractual expansion of an additional four boats for the Bundeswehr and Norway’s current intention to order a further two option boats, both NATO partners could each have six submarines of the new type at their disposal in the future.

“The cooperation with our Norwegian partner will provide our two armed forces with new opportunities for deployment in the context of national and alliance defense, especially on NATO’s northern flank. In addition, we enable the German Navy to meet its requirements within the framework of the Marine 2035+ target. The U212 CD project is another prominent example of how we are able to meet the procurement requirements of the new era,” says Lehnigk-Emden on the occasion of the contract signing.

“With these submarines, we combine proven technology, which we already know from the U212A, with further developments, especially in the area of ​​sensor technology, which make us future-proof,” adds the responsible project manager, Jörg Jährig.

For the boat class, an important milestone in the project was successfully completed last summer with the so-called Critical Design Review (CDR), the final determination of the design, which formed the basis for the subsequent start of production in September 2023. This technical basis for the construction of all U212CD class boats has already been adapted to the requirements of the current threat situation. The delivery of the six German submarines is planned annually for the period 2032 to 2037.

The bilaterally close and trusting cooperation enables synergies to be used in operations, logistics and repairs, which will have a positive effect on the operational availability of this strategic weapon system and on reducing costs. The early establishment of a joint German-Norwegian program office (Joint Program Building Office) to coordinate joint procurement has already proven to be strategically correct and mutually beneficial.

Source BAAINBw

Unofficial translation by EDR On-Line

File photo courtesy BAAINBw