In its final sessions before the holidays, the German Parliament (Bundestag) approved a series of acquisition requests for the Bundeswehr, notably including the purchase of four additional Type 212CD submarines to strengthen the German Navy’s Submarine Force. The agreement with manufacturer TKMS has already been signed by the head of the Bundeswehr Procurement Office, Annette Lehnigk-Emden. This means Berlin now has a total of six units of the new class on order.
According to previous reports, this acquisition will require a €4.7 billion investment from the German government, with the details of the funding expected to be outlined following the early elections scheduled for next February. Once finalized, TKMS will hold contracts for up to ten submarines of this variant, as Norway has also ordered four units and is expected to expand its order by two additional Type 212CD submarines in the near future.
Regarding this initiative, Annette Lehnigk-Emden stated: “The cooperation with our Norwegian partner will provide both our armed forces with new deployment opportunities in the context of national and alliance defense, particularly on NATO’s northern flank. Additionally, it will enable the German Navy to meet its requirements under the Marine 2035+ vision. The U212CD project is another prominent example of how we can meet the procurement demands of this new era.”
It is worth noting that NATO’s updated requirements mandate that the German Navy maintain five submarines permanently available for operations starting in 2031. To this end, the Navy presented plans in 2023 to build a fleet of six to nine Type 212CD submarines, in addition to the six Type 212A submarines currently in service, which are at various stages of readiness. However, questions remain about the feasibility of these plans, as the Navy faces significant challenges in recruiting personnel. This has led the institution to expedite its evaluation of unmanned submarine alternatives, such as Israel’s Blue Whale system.
In the meantime, in addition to approving the purchase of these four new submarines, the Bundestag also authorized funding for the new IDAS submarine-launched missile system. This system will enable the new German Navy submarines to launch solid-fuel missiles with a range exceeding 15 km, effective against ships, land targets, and low-flying enemy aircraft. This decision marks the conclusion of a lengthy development process for the IDAS, which began its initial tests in 2015 aboard German and Norwegian submarines but faced repeated delays due to insufficient funding.
Images used for illustrative purposes.
