Norway and Germany enter into extensive cooperation on naval defence materiel

Today, the German and Norwegian Ministers of Defence formally marked the start of a long-term cooperation on new submarines and naval missiles.

Minister of Defence, Ine Eriksen Søreide, met her German colleague, Ursula von der Leyen, at Eckernföerde naval base today for a bilateral meeting celebrating the start of German-Norwegian naval defence materiel cooperation.

− I am very pleased that Norway and Germany have agreed upon a strategic cooperation on naval defence materiel. This agreement is the start of a long-lasting cooperation on new submarines, naval missiles and other defence systems, says Eriksen Søreide.

On the 2^nd of February 2017, the Norwegian Government decided on Germany as a strategic partner for new submarines. Since then, the partnership has been expanded to encompass additional areas. The bilateral cooperation is formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding. The meeting in Germany on the 22^nd of August marks the formal start of this cooperation.

An ambitious and important cooperation for the future

− In addition to cooperation on new submarines and naval missiles, we will strengthen our Navy-to-Navy cooperation. We will also cooperate on naval research and technological development. This cooperation will strengthen our defence industries, and will be very important and beneficial for both our nations, says Eriksen Søreide.

A major part of the materiel cooperation will be the common project for new submarines. The partnership includes a procurement of identical submarines and cooperation on training, exercises, spare parts, maintenance and lifetime-management of the new submarines, as well as industrial cooperation between German and Norwegian defence industry.

− Norway and Germany will procure identical submarines. This cooperation will provide us with significant synergies and savings throughout the service life of the submarines. Kongsberg, tkMS and Atlas Elektronik have established a joint venture that will deliver the Combat Management System for the German and Norwegian submarines. There is also a large potential for further sales of the Combat Management System to other countries. As part of our agreement, we are also going to cooperate on further development and procurement of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM). The NSM is in service in the Norwegian Navy, and Germany is planning a significant acquisition of missiles for its Navy. This provides great opportunities for the defence industry in both countries, says Eriksen Søreide.

Create high-tech jobs

The cooperation with Germany will ensure that Norway gets world-class submarines, with significant involvement of the Norwegian defence industry within their technological areas of expertise. The long-term strategic partnership will help secure and create high-tech jobs in both nations

− The cooperation will create opportunities for a number of companies in Norway. It will also have a positive impact on the development of high-tech competence, and for the export potential of Norwegian defence products, says Eriksen Søreide.

Germany and Norway have together started a joint process towards the submarine supplier tkMS. A common Request for Quotation was issued to the shipyard in July.

− The project is proceeding according to schedule, and we are now an important step closer to a contract for new submarines in 2019, says Eriksen Søreide.