German Government approves TKMS license to supply submarine to Egypt and four warships to Israel.

The German government has approved Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems’ license to supply a submarine to Egypt and four warships to Israel. Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU) announced these decisions of the Federal Security Council on Tuesday to the Bundestag's Economic Committee in a letter that was made available to the German Press Agency.

Egyptian submarine "S41" of the German submarine class 209/1400mod at the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Picture source: Marco Kuntzsch/Wikipedia)

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is due to deliver one Type 209 submarine to Egypt and four naval Sa'ar 6 corvettes (pictured) to Israel according to Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier.

Last year, Egypt was the third-best foreign customer of German manufacturers, ordering armaments for 802 million euros.

The contract for the delivery of the first two 209/1400mod class submarines to Egypt was signed in 2011. In 2015, Egypt decided to take the option for two additional units of the most recent version of 209/1400mod class submarines.

The contract for the delivery of four SA’AR 6 class missile corvettes was signed in May 2015 with Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems’ as the general contractor. The ships have the stealthy design of a low-signature missile corvette with tailor-made solutions and numerous new technologies onboard.

Type 209/1400mod submarine of the Egyptian Navy, during sea trials (Picture source: AHMED XIV/Wikipedia)

Type 209 Submarines:

The Type 209-class diesel-electric attack submarine was a West German export-minded product of the Cold War that allowed budget-conscious navies of the world access to a fully modern attack class. This compact submarine design became a smart blend of cost-effectiveness, noise reduction practices, firepower, and undersea performance to instantly provide any discerning customer with a useful underwater weapon for deep blue patrolling. There originally proved 64 boats completed for the class though only 61 of this total were completed with three cancelled. As of 2014, the class still sees 59 of its boats in operational service.

Israeli Navy Sa’ar 6 Corvette (Picture source: Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems)

Sa'ar 6 Corvettes:

The Sa’ar 6 class of corvettes includes a series of four new warships being built by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) for the Israeli Navy. Based on the German MEKO 100 patrol corvette, the Saar-6 class is designed to offer enhanced attack capabilities compared to its predecessor Sa’ar 5 class. The steel-cutting ceremony of the first ship was held in February 2018. The hull and superstructures of the ships will be built at TKMS’ shipbuilding facility in Kiel, Germany, while the outfitting of combat systems, sensors and other subsystems will be performed in Israel.