NVL lays keel for German Navy’s first Type 424 intelligence ship

German shipbuilding major NVL Group has held a keel-laying ceremony for the first of three new Type 424 fleet service ships for the German Navy.

As disclosed, the ceremony took place at the Wolgast Peene Shipyard on February 25, 2025. This initiative is part of a €3.3 billion project aimed at constructing three signals intelligence (SIGINT) and reconnaissance vessels, which will replace the aging Oste-class ships that have been in service since the late 1980s.

Each Type 424 will be approximately 130 meters long and the vessels are scheduled to be delivered to the German Navy starting from 2029.

“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,” Tim Wagner, CEO of NVL, said.

“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,” Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, German Navy, stated.

In June 2021, the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) signed a contract with Lürssen Werft (now NVL Group) for the design and construction of the three boats.