The prefix 'CD' stands for "common design" that will be identical for the navies of Norway and Germany. Together with my Norwegian counterpart and our expert teams, we now have established the opera-tional requirements for the new-generation submarine in accordance with the guidelines of the Chiefs of Navy, and provide advice to the project agencies as to the procurement process. The Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) intends to procure four new submarines as a replacement for its six HDW Class 210 (Ula class) diesel-electric submarines, while the German Navy is looking for two new submarines to add to the six U212A fuel cell boats currently in service. Norway will receive the first two boats, as well as numbers 4 and 6, while Germany will procure numbers 3 and 5. In view of the intended signing of a contract this summer, we are now approaching the finish line. However, work for designing the submarine in detail will last for the next several years - and at least until the milestone of a critical design review (CDR) is reached in three years from now. The first submarine shall be delivered in 2029, the others will follow in an approximately year-rhythm thereafter. Maintenance and overhaul of the German submarines will be regularly undertaken in Norway while training for all crews may be conducted reciprocally in both coun-tries. The Norwegian-German submarine cooperation is strategically planned to last for at least 50 years.
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