Germany's Defense Ministry Undersecretary Thomas Kossendey and Vice Adm. Wolfgang Nolting, chief of the German naval staff, were part of the German delegation attending the ceremony in Ankara. Turkish officials included Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül, Naval Forces Commander Adm. Metin Ataç and head of the Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) Murad Bayar.
Under the agreement, HDW/MFI, a joint venture between Thyssen Krupp's HDW unit and UK-based Marine Force International LLP, will build six Type 214 class air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines. The vessels will be built at the Gölcük naval shipyard in Turkey.
Delivery of the submarines is expected to begin in 2015. Gönül said earlier that Turkish industrial participation in the project would be worth around 80 percent of the total value of the deal. Around 20 of the systems and sub-systems of the submarines will be produced by Turkish industry, he said. The project is part of Turkey's efforts to upgrade its navy. Turkey's armed forces are the second biggest in NATO after the United States, and Turkey is expected to place large procurement orders in coming years as part of the modernization of its military.
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