Thyssenkrupp, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders sign MoU to jointly build submarine

Thyssenkrupp AG’s marine arm and India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the intended construction of conventional, air-independent-propulsion submarines.

“With India being one of Germany’s strategic partners, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is keen to again demonstrate its expertise in the Indian market,” Thyssenkrupp said in a statement.

Oliver Burkhard, CEO, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems said, “We look back on a trusting and decade-long partnership with India. The boats we built in the 1980s are still in service today. We are very proud of that and would be delighted to continue contributing to India’s national security in the future. We are ready when India calls.”

The ceremony took place in Mumbai, India in the presence of Boris Pistorius, the German Defence Minister, on 7 June 2023. “With this MoU Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is proactively striving to contribute to Germany’s strategic cooperation with India,” the statement adds.

The parties to the MoU intend to cooperate in a joint project in which Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems contributes the engineering and design of the submarines as well as providing consultancy support. The MoU also states that Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited would be responsible for constructing and delivering the respective submarines. The construction work would take place in India and is expected to include significant local content.

Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems built and delivered vessels for the Indian Navy in the past. The four HDW Class 209 submarines built in the 1980s had already proved to be a successful Indo-German cooperation. The first and second of those submarines were built by Thyssenkrupp Marine System (then HDW in Kiel), the third and fourth by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai. All four vessels were commissioned into the Indian Navy and continue to serve as frontline assets in the Indian Navy’s Mumbai-based submarine fleet.