Norway and Germany announced an agreement on July 8 to jointly procure new submarines and Naval Strike Missiles (NSMs), seeking lower costs and allowing for longer term cooperation between both countries’ militaries.
The deal covers six new Thyssenkrupp
212 Common Design (CD)-class diesel-electric submarines for Norway and two for Germany. The first vessel will be bound for Norway and is scheduled to start construction in 2023 and be delivered in 2029. The two German boats are expected to be delivered in 2032 and 2034.
Both countries signed separate agreements with Thyssenkrupp for the submarines.
Norway and German also made an agreement with Kongsberg for the joint acquisition of an undisclosed amount of fifth generation long-range NSM Block 1A missiles. The Naval Strike Missile acquisition program will be led by a joint program office based in Norway and staffed with personnel from both countries.
Thyssenkrupp said the submarine procurements are worth about 5.5 billion Euros or $6.5 billion total and is the largest in its history.
Previously, in 2017 both countries previously entered into a long term strategic cooperation agreement.
Thyssenkrupp said that in preparation for this order, it invested about $296 million in 2019 to develop the company’s capabilities at its Kiel, Germany location into “an international centre of competence for the construction of conventional submarines.”
The company noted as part of this investment, it has already started constructing a new shipbuilding hall in Kiel.
“With the order now placed in the Norwegian-German strategic cooperation project U212CD, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems will consolidate its partnership with Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace (KDA), which has already existed since 2017, and expand its value-adding industrial partnerships in Norway and Germany,” the company added.
Kongsberg said beyond delivering NSMs, it will also deliver the submarine’s ORCCA combat system, managed and designed by KTA Naval Systems, a Thyssenkrupp-Kongsberg joint venture established in 2017.
“ORCCA is the most modern and fully integrated combat system for non-nuclear submarines on the market, building on the joint expertise and products of our colleagues at Atlas Elektronik and Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace to create a unique combat system. ORCCA will provide unprecedented functionality and performance for submariners,” Kathrin Rohloff, CEO of KTA Naval Systems, said in a statement.
Kongsberg said the ORCCA system will allow operators to conduct advanced data analytics from multifunctional consoles to provide a comprehensive and accelerated decision-making process. It also said this will allow operators to better interact as part of a unit in multinational NATO or European Union missions.
The company highlighted under these agreements, Germany will become the sixth country to field the NSM while contracts will replenish and update Norway’s missile stock.
“Both the new submarine class and the NSM represent the most modern and advanced high-end technology equipment that exists in the world today. Kingsberg is proud to be in the front seat in this journey,” Eirik Lie, president of KDA, said in a statement.
“Working on these agreements, we have gained valuable insights into our respective organizations, processes and cultures. This forms a solid basis for long-term cooperation between Norway and Germany,” Mette Sørfonden, the director of the Norway Defense Materiel Agency, or Forsvarsmateriell, said in a statement.
The 212CD submarines will serve as a new generation of vessels based on the Type 212A submarines, which have previously served with the German and Italian navies.