The German government was optimistic it could win the bid for the Canada Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), beating Korea, a rival bidder.
According to German news agency dpa, Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil visited the business sites of German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) on the 3rd (local time) and said, "The entire German federal government is waging an all-out campaign to conclude defense cooperation with Canada."
Minister Klingbeil said, "In many respects, it is very advantageous for us," emphasizing the highest quality production capacity Germany can offer.
TKMS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Oliver Burkhard also said, "We believe we have a strong chance of winning the contract," citing interoperability of naval power among North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies as the strongest asset.
Burkhard said that if the deal goes through, "it will be the largest contract in the history of conventional submarines concluded among NATO allies."
CPSP is a program to acquire up to 12 diesel submarines to replace aging boats. Including construction expense and 30 years of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) after delivery, the project is expected to total up to 60 trillion won.
Korea's Hanwha Ocean and Germany's TKMS have been shortlisted as qualified candidates and are competing.
Korea and Germany are mobilizing their governments to make an all-out push to win the CPSP order.
Earlier, Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik recently said of the project that it was "about a 50-50 situation."
Kang said, "Canada and Korea have a perfectly symmetrical structure, so there is a lot that can be 'win-win.'"