Recently, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, a subsidiary of German steel, defense, automotive, and elevator components giant ThyssenKrupp AG, announced its official rebranding to TKMS and revealed that the value of its order backlog for submarines and surface vessels has increased to €18 billion (approximately US$21.2 billion).
TKMS stated that the rebranding has enabled the company to consolidate its various business units under a single name, including surface vessels and submarines, Atlas Elektronik’s software and electronic solutions, and the civil division NXTGEN Engineering.
Oliver Burkhard, CEO of TKMS, declared: “The new brand identity means that TKMS is more clearly identified as an independent company, in line with the company’s planned listing on the stock exchange later this year. TKMS is the only German naval company to bring together all maritime areas under one name.”
Currently, TKMS’s main submarine construction base is located at the Kiel shipyard. With the current order volume, its delivery period has been scheduled to the 2040s.
In response to the growing volume of orders, TKMS acquired Wismar Shipyard in mid-2022 and is currently expanding it, planning to retain Wismar Shipyard’s surface shipbuilding capabilities and add a new submarine production line.
Starting in May 2025, TKMS will invest €220 million (approximately US$260 million) over the next eight years in infrastructure development at the Wismar shipyard and plans to create 1,500 new jobs by the end of 2029. The company revealed that the Wismar shipyard is expected to begin partial production by the end of 2026, initially focusing on the construction of submarine components, and will gradually transition to the construction of entire submarines once the infrastructure is fully completed.
Based on the recent orders for two Type 212CD submarines and two Type 218SG submarines, TKMS’s order backlog is now worth €18 billion. In addition, the company is bidding for a Canadian submarine order. The Norwegian Navy is also evaluating whether to add two more Type 212CD submarines, bringing its order total to six.
It is reported that TKMS’s submarine construction experience and technology will also help it win surface vessel projects, such as the construction of the German “Polarstern 2” research icebreaker. The vessel is planned to be built at the Wismar shipyard, and will start construction in March 2027 and is expected to be completed in 2030. It will replace the “Polarstern” in service in 1982 and will be operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in northwestern Germany.
In addition, TKMS is also leading the German Navy’s F127 frigate joint venture project, which is currently in the early stages. If all goes well, TKMS will build this type of frigate at the Wismar shipyard from October 2027.