and Norwegian defense ministers meet with their Canadian counterpart on Monday to push for Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems to win a multibillion-dollar submarine contract.
Boris Pistorius and Tore Sandvik are accompanied by the CEO of TKMS as Canada considers joining the German-Norwegian submarine partnership. It will include the purchase of U212CD submarines, six of which Germany is expected to receive by 2037.
TKMS just spun off from parent company Thyssenkrupp AG and held an initial public offering in Frankfurt on Monday, where CEO Oliver Burkhardt told those present he was traveling to Ottawa with Pistorius to discuss a potential submarine order.
The German minister will also visit Lockheed Martin Canada on Tuesday.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
prime minister
announced in August that TKMS and South Korea's Hanwha Ocean Co. became the two finalists for a contract to supply Canada with as many as 12 conventionally powered vessels capable of operating under ice.
Carney visited the TKMS plant in Kiel, Germany, in August and plans to tour the Hanwha facility next week while in Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The government intends to make a decision within the next year and hopes to see industrial benefits for Canada.
Canada is becoming increasingly important to Germany as a transatlantic ally as the US moves away from its traditional partnership with Europe. Canada, in turn, wants its industry to benefit from the booming European market.
Germany, Norway and Canada entered into a maritime security partnership in 2024, with Denmark joining this year. The countries want to work together to protect critical undersea infrastructure and strengthen their anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
In June, Canada also established a security partnership with the European Union, which brings the country closer to accessing the EU's SAFE defense funding mechanism if it partners with at least one EU member state.
As German defense companies face a supply crisis due to restrictions on exports of rare earth metals from China, Pistorius plans to meet Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson. In August, Canada and Germany promised closer cooperation on critical minerals and discussed the North American country's ability to supply liquefied natural gas to European consumers.
Pistorius is currently traveling in the North Atlantic. He visited Iceland on Sunday, where he signed a letter of intent with Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir to expand military cooperation between the two countries, including the possible future deployment of German P-8A Poseidon naval surveillance aircraft to the island.
With assistance from Arno Schütze.
