Norway orders 2 more Type 212CD submarines from TKMS to increase its presence in the Arctic.

On January 30, 2026, Norway officially signed a contract in Oslo with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) for two additional Type 212CD submarines, increasing the planned fleet of the Royal Norwegian Navy from four to six boats under the joint German-Norwegian Common Design submarine program.

On January 30, 2026, Norway formally contracted two additional Type 212CD submarines, expanding its order to six boats under the bilateral program with Germany and TKMS. The decision implements Norway’s updated 2025–2036 defense plan and aligns the submarine force structure with long-term replacement of the Ula-class fleet.
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The Type 212CD program originates from a bilateral decision taken in 2017 by Norway and Germany to jointly replace the Norwegian Ula-class and the German Type 212A with a submarine based on a common design. (Picture source: TKMS)

Even though the country had already confirmed this in December 2025, Norway officially signed a contract in Oslo to procure two additional Type 212CD submarines from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), increasing the Royal Norwegian Navy’s planned fleet from four to six boats under the joint German-Norwegian Common Design submarine program. The contract followed a government decision taken in December 2025 and formal approval by the Norwegian parliament in January 2026, aligning the submarine force structure with Norway’s updated long-term defense plan for the period 2025-2036. The agreement activates an option foreseen within the original framework and commits Norway to a larger undersea force intended to remain in service into the 2060s. With this step, the bilateral program proceeds at its initially planned maximum scale for the two partner navies.

The January 2026 signing expands Norway’s original July 2021 contract for four submarines, two of which are already under construction at German shipyards. The first Norwegian Type 212CD submarine is scheduled for delivery in 2029, with the remaining boats planned to enter service progressively between 2030 and 2035. The additional submarines are intended to ensure continuity of capability as Norway’s six Ula-class submarines, commissioned between 1989 and 1992, reach the end of their operational life. Fleet expansion to six boats is designed to support sustained patrol availability, training cycles, and maintenance rotations without prolonged gaps in undersea presence. The financial framework for the expanded Norwegian order includes an increase of NOK 46 billion (roughly $4.74 billion), covering value-added tax, contingency reserves, program execution costs, and adjustments linked to exchange-rate developments since the 2021 contract.

Norwegian authorities identified higher prices for critical raw materials, defense-industrial inputs, and associated weapon systems as key contributors to increased unit costs across all six submarines. The revised framework also includes Norwegian participation in financing a second production line in Germany to accelerate construction schedules for the additional boats. The decision to expand the submarine fleet was linked to Norway’s assessment of the security environment in the North Atlantic, the Barents Sea, and Arctic maritime approaches, which treats submarines as a strategic capability for surveillance, deterrence, and intelligence tasks in national waters and allied areas of responsibility. Increasing the fleet to six boats is intended to allow simultaneous deployments, maintenance, and training without overextending crews or vessels. The program is also framed as a long-term element of NATO force planning on the alliance’s northern flank.

Germany’s procurement decisions are directly tied to the Norwegian expansion, as Berlin signed contracts in December 2024 for four optional Type 212CD submarines, increasing the German Navy’s order from two to six boats. With Norway’s January 2026 contract, the combined German-Norwegian program now totals twelve submarines, which corresponds to the maximum quantity foreseen when the bilateral agreement was established. All boats are built to an identical configuration, enabling common approaches to training, logistics, spare parts management, maintenance, and lifecycle support. Joint program offices in Germany and Norway are responsible for coordinating construction, acceptance, and long-term sustainment. The program structure also allows for potential future expansion beyond the twelve confirmed boats, as the Type 212CD has been shortlisted as a candidate by Canada for its Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, which includes up to twelve conventionally powered submarines. As of January 2026, only the German and Norwegian orders are contractually confirmed.

The Type 212CD originates from a bilateral decision taken in 2017 by Norway and Germany to jointly replace the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Ula-class submarines and the German Navy’s Type 212A boats through a common design and shared lifecycle approach. After negotiations between both governments and industry, an agreement in principle was reached in March 2021, followed by a contract signed in July 2021 covering development and procurement with a total value of about €5.5 billion for the initial six submarines, which averages to roughly €917 million ($1.0 billion) per submarine. Construction of the first submarine started in September 2023, and the program completed its Critical Design Review in August 2024, allowing the transition to full-rate production.

The Type 212CD itself is a conventionally powered attack submarine with significantly increased dimensions compared with the Type 212A. It has a surfaced displacement of about 2,500 tonnes and a submerged displacement of about 2,800 tonnes, a length of roughly 73 meters, a beam of 10 meters, and a draught of around 7 meters. The hull design incorporates faceted external geometry intended to reduce detectability by modern active sonar systems, and the larger internal volume supports increased energy storage, higher endurance, and additional mission payload capacity. The submarines are designed for operations in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions, with an endurance specified at up to 41 days. Crew size figures have not been publicly standardized, but the layout allows for extended deployments compared with earlier classes.

Propulsion combines diesel-electric machinery with a fourth-generation air-independent propulsion system based on hydrogen fuel cells, supported by lithium-ion batteries. Each submarine is fitted with two MTU 4000-series diesel engines, replacing the single-engine configuration used on earlier Type 212 variants, which increases electrical generation capacity and redundancy. This propulsion arrangement enables prolonged submerged operations without snorkeling and submerged speeds exceeding 20 knots, while limiting acoustic emissions. The use of lithium-ion batteries supports higher power availability for onboard systems and contributes to longer submerged endurance. The propulsion configuration is intended to support sustained low-signature patrols in contested maritime environments.

The combat system and armament architecture of the Type 212CD is centered on the ORCCA combat management system developed by KTA Naval Systems, integrating sensor inputs and weapon control into a single operations environment. Optical sensing is provided by non-hull-penetrating optronic masts, including the Hensoldt OMS-150 for search and surveillance and the OMS-300 for attack functions, supplemented by a panoramic surveillance system. Navigation and mine-avoidance rely on dedicated sonar and echo-sounding systems integrated into the combat system. Armament is based on six 533 mm torpedo tubes with capacity for heavyweight torpedoes such as the DM2A5, with provisions for integrating missile systems, anti-torpedo defenses, and unmanned underwater vehicles depending on national configuration.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.