Steel cutting begins on German Type 424 SIGINT ships
An artist’s impression of one of the completed Type 424 vessels. (Image: German MoD)
The new signals vessels will replace the ageing 423 Oste-class ships, which have been operating since the late 1980s.
Steel cutting has begun on the first of Germany’s Type 424 signals intelligence (SIGINT) vessels, built by NVL Group.
The Type 424 fleet, which will eventually consist of three ships, will replace the ageing Type 423 Oste-class vessels, the Oste, Oker, and Alster, at a cost of €3.3 billion (US$3.5 billion). The vessels will be expected to be commissioned between 2029 and 2031, with the construction of a training and reference facility for the vessels pre-empting the first commissioning by two years. The cost of the training facility has been factored into the budget of the ship builds.
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