German shipbuilder NVL held the keel laying ceremony for the first of three new Type 424 SIGINT (signals intelligence) and reconnaissance ships for the German Navy.
NVL press release issued in German – Translation by Naval News
Wolgast, February 25, 2025. Today, at the Wolgast Peene Shipyard, the first of three new fleet service boats was laid down under the eyes of numerous project participants and representatives from politics, the Bundeswehr (German Federal Armed Forces), and industry. In their speeches, the Inspector of the Navy, Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, and the Inspector of the Cyber and Information Domain, Vice Admiral Thomas Daum, emphasized the strategic importance of the future units for Germany’s maritime security architecture. The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Inspector General, Lieutenant General Andreas Hoppe, the Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Manuela Schwesig, and the Head of the Maritime Division of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), Rear Admiral Andreas Czerwinski. The public client had commissioned NVL in 2023 with the construction of the new reconnaissance ships.
“Especially our fleet service boats, operated by the German Navy and used for reconnaissance by soldiers of the Cyber and Information Domain Service, are a highly effective, indispensable strategic reconnaissance asset for combat-ready armed forces. Therefore, I am pleased about the keel laying of the first fleet service boat of class 424,”
Vice Admiral Thomas Daum,
“Our new fleet service boats represent an indispensable component of national security precautions. They are highly specialized, they are in high demand, and they will have to meet the high requirements across the entire reconnaissance spectrum worldwide in a future-proof manner: up to a year in the operational area, future-proof through flexible design, with a helicopter landing capability and the ability to take drones on board. Equally new for German fleet service boats is the ability of replenishment at sea (RAS) to increase endurance at sea, and – underlying everything – a technical leap in generations in sensor technology, data processing, and data transmission. For the German Navy, the new fleet service boats will be an absolutely valuable gain in capabilities, and we look forward to deploying them shoulder to shoulder with our comrades from the CIR,” added Vice Admiral Kaack.
Tim Wagner, CEO of NVL, spoke of an important milestone and praised the commitment of all those involved in the project. “We are well on schedule with this demanding project. Now it is important to maintain the pace in the construction phase together with our customer and all partners.”
The approximately 130-meter-long fleet service boats of Class 424 will serve the Bundeswehr as reconnaissance platforms for sea-based intelligence gathering and are equipped with state-of-the-art sensor technology. Their design meets the latest military requirements for future-proof naval vessels.
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Naval News comments:
Contract for the design and construction of three new SIGINT (signal intelligence) ships was first signed in 2021 with Lürssen Werft GmbH and also covers training facilities which are expected to be delivered by 2027. Two years later, the green light for the construction is given to NVL (military branch of the Lürssen group). As expected, details regarding systems that will be fitted are not known at this stage but requirements highlighted the need for “self-protection, command and control capabilities and the need for extremely low-noise propulsion systems”.
