TKMS, Kongsberg Sign Deal For Closer Cooperation

GERMANY’S Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KONGSBERG) have entered a cooperation agreement aimed at fostering further close industrial collaboration to support the defence requirements of Norway, Germany and other allied countries.

The agreement primarily serves to strengthen the relationship of trust between the two partners
and to further promote technological cooperation in the future. Through industrial cooperation and a partnership approach, the two companies can provide a foundation for job creation, technology transfer and investment to benefit national and international markets.

In 2024, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence selected Germany as one of four countries for
discussions about a potential strategic partnership for deliveries of new frigates to replace
the Royal Norwegian Navy’s current Fridtjof Nansen-class.

CEO of TKMS Oliver Burkhard said, “We have worked together with KONGSBERG for many years, which reflects the strong relationship between Germany and Norway, built over years of cooperation as close allies
and friends. This agreement brings together a number of areas in which our companies are already collaborating and further enhances our ability to deliver advanced defence capabilities for current and future Norwegian and German armed forces.”

President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Eirik Lie added, “KONGSBERG and TKMS already have a substantial cooperation related to submarines. This new agreement enables us to build on the successful
partnerships between the two companies and between our two nations’ industries. It further
strengthens our ability to offer advanced maritime capability to the Norwegian and German
defence forces.”

Under the terms of this specific agreement, the two companies will seek to explore long-term
cooperation in existing and future joint programs across all military domains. These may
include the Vanguard vessel system, a strategic partnership for through-life support for the
new frigates, strike missiles, maritime surveillance and targeting and ship system deliveries
to both nations’ frigates and additional naval ships.

New Brand, New Claim And New Colours

On June 4, the companies of the TKMS Group were renamed
accordingly under the new umbrella brand. The short, concise name of the TKMS brand stands for itself. In this way, an internally and externally established abbreviation has now become an
independent company name and brand profile. The new color spectrum is
derived from the colors of submarines (black, anthracite), surface vessels (gray)
the rank insignia of naval uniforms and steel production (yellow). This makes the
new TKMS brand identity very different from the previous blue color scheme,
which is also widely used in the maritime defence industry.

A new brand architecture also supports the company’s consistent repositioning
in terms of communication and ensures a clear structure: The operating units –
surface vessels and submarines, the electronics and software solutions of
ATLAS ELEKTRONIK and the civilian division NXTGEN – are therefore
subordinated to the TKMS umbrella brand in the sense of a common brand
identity.

The company has a very well-filled order book: Following the order for four additional
Type212CD submarines for the Federal Republic of Germany, the award of the
contract for the construction of the new ‘Polarstern’ for the Alfred Wegener
Institute and the recent signing of a contract for the follow-up order of two Invincible-class
submarines for Singapore, the order book has now risen to around US$20 billion.-shp/adj/dl (Pix:KONGSBERG)