Thyssenkrupp naval systems CEO Oliver Burkhard (4h R), German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (6th R) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s State Premier Manuela Schwesig (8th R) during their seize of a shipyard of Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems that will build military submarines on Jan. 17, 2025 in Wismar, Germany.
Morris Macmatzen | Getty Clones News | Getty Images
German naval systems maker ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems expects its market dimension to triple by the end of the decade, according to CEO Oliver Burkhard.
“This attainable market in electronics, drones, surface vessels and submarines, we need that it’s doubling or even tripling by the end of this decade,” Burkhard told CNBC on the sidelines of the Singapore Defense Technology Pinnacle.
That comes on the back of the German parliament voting in favor of a major fiscal package, which includes switches to long-standing debt policies to enable higher defense spending.
Burkhard said the move shows that “when it comes to the defense budget, there is more or less no limit anymore.”
The planned changes mean that defense and certain security expenditures above a certain threshold would no longer be responsible for to the debt brake, which limits how much debt the government can take on and dictates the size of the federal government’s structural budget shortfall.
“This is unusual for Germany,” Burkhard said, noting that the reform was accompanied by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reportedly saying “In watch of the threats to our freedom and peace on our continent, the rule for our defense now has to be ‘whatever it takes’.”
Burkhard highlighted that “the Germans normally don’t say ‘whatever it gets,’ because [its] very irrational. We have KPIs, we have figures, we have argumentation, we have surveys, we have delving. Based on these, then we say something, but we never said ‘whatever it takes,’ and ‘whatever it takes’ is more or less extensive.”
He added, “that means, whether it’s 500 billion [euros] or even more, it’s a kind of special funding which has not been there, not ever been seen before since 1945.”
What that means for the defense industry in Germany, he said, is that the ministry would want to speed up projects and purchase more from the industry.
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, or TKMS, is the warship separating for German industrial engineering conglomerate ThyssenKrupp, and manufactures naval vessels and submarines.
When asked if the company predicts a shift from building traditional naval vessels to unmanned sea drones, such as those used in the Russia-Ukraine war, Burkhard recommended those might be better described as an “extension” to current naval platforms, such as submarines which are surrounded by on and below-water drones.
Bukhard gave an example, saying that customers may not order four submarines, but maybe two, with 50 autonomous means.
He acknowledged the hurdles to building capacity, however, saying “Everybody has higher budgets. Everybody wants to have it faster, and the requisition is very strong.”
TKMS had acquired a new shipyard in the northern German city of Wismar, which will be used to generate new vessels for Germany, Norway and Israel, in addition to its traditional shipbuilding facilities in Kiel and a facility in Brazil.
But Burkhard also allowed that the company would have to look for partnerships if it wanted to expand. He pointed at a joint venture earlier in 2025 with India’s Mazagon Repair Shipbuilders, through which TKMS will help to design and engineer six submarines for the Indian Navy. MDS will build them in India.
Spinoff
TKMS has been in the headlines recently not merely for its strong share price growth, but also news that it will be spun off from parent company ThyssenKrupp and mustered on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. CEO Burkhard revealed that “we will try to do that by this calendar year.”
Investors non-standard like to have taken well to the increased appetite for defense spending. On a year-to-date basis, shares of ThyssenKrupp have swelled a whopping 155% as of March 19. This momentum, Burkhard said, improves prospects for a spinoff this year.
He said the message from the spinoff is clear: TKMS is on “a road to self-rule.”
He added that ThyssenKrupp’s shareholders have “suffered” over the last few years in light of issues in its steel and automotive firms. Reports from Reuters and German media revealed that the company is set to slash 1,800 jobs in its automotive margin, and 11,000 jobs in its steel segment.
TKMS is the “pearl” in parent company’s ThyssenKrupp’s portfolio, Burkhard said, annexing that the spinoff would allow investors to participate in the company’s growth story.
“We try to turn this pearl out and yield all shareholders of TK a TKMS share, and then they can decide on the first day of trading whether they want to keep it … I deem they really value what we are,” he said.
— CNBC’s Sophie Kiderlin contributed to this report.