An ancestor of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems built many of the U-boats and battlecruisers that wreaked havoc around the globe during the first and second World Wars, and in recent years the firm has continued to supply the German military with warships.
So, it will have come as a shock to the country’s largest shipbuilder that it has been barred from the race to supply the next generation of German battleships. Faced with a program plagued by manufacturing problems, including a new warship that listed, the German defense ministry has taken the unprecedented step of excluding a consortium led by the company, part of the ThyssenKrupp industrial conglomerate, from the bidding process.
The decision was disclosed in a notice sent to the firm’s shipyards by the ministry’s purchasing agency. The letter said the government did not trust ThyssenKrupp and its partner, Lürrsen shipyards, to build the new Multi-role Combat Ship 180 (MKS 180 for short), which is designed to operate anywhere in the world, including in polar seas.
The agency also said the consortium’s proposed price of €4 billion ($4.9 billion) for four warships was too high.
The decision was a stunning blow to ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, although perhaps not a huge surprise to outsiders. The firm has been forced in recent months to pay multiple fines for cost overruns and late deliveries on other contracts, and has been swept up in a major bribery investigation in Israel, its largest customer, which has ensnared close associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full story, on the Handelsblatt website.
-ends-
from Defense Aerospace - Press releases http://ift.tt/2FeB2JY
via Defense
No comments: