TKMS to bid for German defence contracts, including two submarines – FAZ

BERLIN (Reuters) – Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) is aiming to clinch new orders from the German Navy as the government boosts defence spending in response to the Ukraine war, the chief executive said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday.

“We have been invited to bid for additional submarines and corvettes,” Oliver Burkhard told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, adding that the German defence group would do this “in the coming weeks”.

The bids include “at least two additional submarines” from a cooperation between Norway and Germany, which so far consists of six submarines, Burkhard said.

A third edition of the K 130 corvette is also in the offing, after the first boat of the second edition was just christened, he added.

The CEO said new negotiations would be necessary because the costs had risen considerably.

TKMS is also interested in building the navy’s new frigates, the F 127, Burkhard told the newspaper.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in a policy shift after decades of attrition of Germany’s armed forces, pledged in February after Russia invaded Ukraine to sharply increase defence spending, including an initial 100 billion euro ($106 billion) fund. (L8N2XO3WN)

(Writing by Rachel More; Editing by Madeline Chambers)