• On April 25th 2024, Thales Germany was honoured to welcome and organized a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony with the Mayor of Kiel for a new building in Kiel's Wik district in order to expend its naval activities.
• This new infrastructure will ensure close cooperation between Thales and the German Navy, in the context of the F126 project led by Damen as prime contractor.
• Completion is planned for autumn 2025 and would imply an investment of 13 million euros as well as the creation of 40 new jobs. 

Thales is taking a strategic step to expand its naval activities in Germany. The company is having another building complex constructed at its Kiel site.

Renate Treutel, Mayor of the City of Kiel, Julia Carstens, State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport, Labour, Technology and Tourism of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, and Dr Christina Schubert, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Kieler Wirtschaftsförderungs- und Strukturentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (KiWi), together with Christoph Ruffner, CEO and Country Director of Thales in Germany, performed the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony today.

Kiel-based KIWI Tower GmbH is realising a new four-storey building with a gross floor area of around 3,500 m2 for Thales, which has been based in Kiel's Wik district since September 2019. In addition to around 1,700 m2 of pure integration space, the new building has operational and logistics space, office space in a modern open-space concept and a spacious roof terrace. Completion is planned for autumn 2025. The investment volume amounts to around 13 million euros.

“Thales' decision is another example of the fact that Kiel also offers attractive framework conditions for high-tech companies. This is particularly true for the maritime industry. Companies, universities, research and technology transfer institutions in Kiel and the Kiel region form a unique network. I am delighted about an investment that also gives employees security and creates attractive new jobs.” Renate Treutel, Mayor of the City of Kiel.  

 “As recently requested by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, Thales is taking responsibility and investing in further infrastructure in Kiel to ensure short distances and close cooperation with our customer Deutsche Marine and in particular the F 126 frigate project. On the one hand, we want to create new, state-of-the-art jobs here; on the other hand, we also want to create an environment in which the expertise and resources of the customer, procurement and industry are bundled. In the long term, this will increase trust and make collaboration more agile in view of the dynamic challenges of our time." Christoph Ruffner, CEO of Thales in Germany.

Expertise for maritime applications

Together with the Wilhelmshaven site, Thales offers its customers and partners, above all the German Navy and shipyards, optimum customer proximity from Kiel. For more than 50 years, modern, customised communication and navigation systems for surface vessels have been designed and implemented in Kiel for national and international customers.

The solutions from Kiel meet the highest technological requirements for a safe world, which today more than ever depends on fast and comprehensive reconnaissance results, harmonised command and information networks and intelligent, compatible sensor systems.

Around 260 people are currently employed at the Kiel site. 40 newly created positions are to be filled in the course of this year.