Defence and Budget Committee vote in favour of naval procurement project

Already in the early afternoon marineforum.online the Defence Committee's decision to procure a number of new ships and aircraft. The Defence Committee has now also approved the project in its last meeting before the summer break. Eckhard Rehberg, budget policy spokesperson for the CDU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, was delighted: "Today, the Budget Committee discussed 27 proposals totalling 19 billion euros for important Bundeswehr procurement and development projects and released the funds." The share for the navy is disproportionately high: 6.8 billion euros have been released for some long-discussed projects that are to be procured over a period of ten years. These include the German-Norwegian submarine project (2.8 billion), three fleet service boats (2 billion), two fuel transporters (914 million) and two test vehicles for the Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 71 (95 million). Added to this are funds for five new Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA). "We are thus continuing the modernisation of the navy and sending out an industrial policy signal," explained Rehberg.
His colleague Ingo Gädechens, Chairman of the CDU in the Bundestag's Defence Committee and a full member of the Budget Committee, pointed out the importance of the decisions for German naval shipbuilding: "Back in 2018, the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag passed a resolution calling on the Federal Government to declare naval surface shipbuilding a key technology. At its meeting on 13 April 2021, it also extended this to include material maintenance and repair. This made it possible to dispense with Europe-wide tenders for important German naval projects. With today's decision, we are further strengthening the German Navy as well as the shipbuilding and supplier industry in the north and throughout Germany." Gädechens and Rehberg already campaigned for the second batch of corvettes 130 in 2016.
The long-awaited decision was welcomed by the industry. Rolf Wirtz, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, expects the contract for the U 212CD project to be signed soon. This will contribute to the preservation of this key technology in Germany. TKMS will continue to build the most modern conventional submarines and thus secure thousands of jobs for the foreseeable future. Construction of the first submarine of the new class could begin in as little as two years, provided the contract is signed soon. Delivery could then be expected in 2031 and 2034.

Ingo Gädechens

Eckhardt Rehberg

Text: mb; Photos: Gädechens, Rehberg, TKMS