Australia: Thyssen-Krupp escapes billion order for submarines – Tagesspiegel

Thyssen-Krupp is left empty-handed in the award of billion project to build twelve submarines in Australia. The government chose the French state shipbuilder DCNS as preferred partner, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced in Adelaide on Tuesday. The stretched over several decades order has a volume of around 35 billion euros and would be one of the largest contracts in company history for ThyssenKrupp have been. At the same time it is the largest military purchase of Australian history.

Australia seeks to replace and expand its submarine fleet of six vessels currently. The Essen-based industrial group had gone about his Kiel shipyard ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) into the race. Also applied for the job had become a Japanese consortium with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Ultimately, however, won the Paris Group, to which the French state holds almost two thirds of the shares.

Turnbull announced the decision in the coastal city of Adelaide, where the submarine shipyard is that involved in the construction shall be. The ships are to be built mainly in Australia, including the leading Australian Naval Shipyard, the state ASC (formerly Australian Submarine Corporation). They built the six submarines of the Collins-class submarine, which were put into service between 1994 and 2003 and are now to be replaced. The production of the new submarines will begin in a few years, the first submarine to be put into service early 2030s.

Australia wants 134 billion euros by 2025 to upgrade

TKMS had promised to build a plant in Australia and prepare the submarines there. The Kieler division wanted to build a foothold for maintenance contracts in the Asia-Pacific region. TKMS had offered a close cooperation or acquisition of Marine shipyard ASC.

The Director of Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Volker Perthes, sees the failed business of Thyssen-Krupp also in the foreign policy context. The decision should not cause Germany to lose their new-found interest in geopolitical contexts in Asia Pacific, warned the government adviser in a first reaction to Twitter

Australia’s government announced a comprehensive upgrade program in March. – with expenditures of only 195 billion Australian dollars (134 billion euros) by 2025. the defense forces must be more powerful in the face of the arms race in Asia and because of the tensions in the South China sea. “In the next 20 years half of all submarines are world and be stationed in the region at least half of all modern combat aircraft,” it said in a White Paper on defense. Threats are potential conflicts, cyber attacks, terrorism, pandemics and climate change. ( dpa )