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Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate

Belgium and the Netherlands have opted for bilateral cooperation to replace both their mine hunters and their four frigates. Belgium is leading the program for new mine action vessels (MCM in jargon), while the Netherlands has control over the program for the new frigates, on January 13, 2021 dubbed " Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate " (ASWF, in French frigates anti-submarine warfare). This class of vessels 133 meters long and with a displacement of 5,700 tons will have the main tasks of detecting and fighting submarines. They will be equipped to operate in a hostile futuristic environment.

Belgium and the Netherlands have set aside a total amount of more than two billion euros for this purchase, with deliveries expected around 2028-2029. However, the program has fallen behind schedule and should not materialize with a contract signing until 2022 - and not this year, as initially planned - according to The Hague.

Ths new frigates will cost 515 million each. When looking at the future ships of neighbors, the new English T45s cost 1.4 billion the ship, for the Spanish F-110 it is 1 billion the ship, for the French and Italian Freems, 850 million pieces and it is whispered behind the scenes that the Netherlands will put in, them 750 million by frigate, that is to say 250 more.

The new frigates are expected to be equipped with two vertical launch sets of VLS Mk 41 missiles, capable of firing different types of anti-aircraft, anti-ship and even cruise missiles. Each VLS (vertical launch system), built by the American group Lockheed Martin, has eight firing cells.

As is known, the frigates in the forward part of the ship ('the barge') will be equipped with various weapon systems. Behind the 76mm Sovraponte gun is space for two Mk41 vertical launchers. A Mk41 consists of eight cells for missiles such as ESSM, SM-2, SM-3, etc. These are expected to be primarily intended for ESSM Block 2 missiles against medium-range air targets. So two of these Mk41s give the ship sixteen launch cells. And because the ESSM missiles come in a pack of four in one cell, there is room for up to 64 ESSM missiles.

The Netherlands and Belgium are jointly replacing the current M-frigates. Both countries will each receive two ASW frigates. It is known that after the ideal design was reached at the end of 2019, cutting was carried outto stay within budget. The ship became slightly smaller and most of the space between the launcher and the 76mm gun seemed to have disappeared. A possible expansion of the number of launchers therefore seemed out of the question. Another, perhaps more serious, cutback involved reducing space for unmanned crafts (USVs) capable of detecting submarines at great distances. The frigates would not be able to carry USVs of 12 meters but only 7 meters. Smaller vessels can operate for a shorter period of time and can no longer be deployed more quickly in bad weather.

The shortening of the ship was criticized by experts. After all, a larger ship is cheaper to design and maintain. "The pipes and cables are getting longer, more lighting and air conditioning. But if you don't fill the space with expensive systems, it doesn't matter. Then the extra costs are relatively little," one of them told MarineShips.nl. The extra space does provide more possibilities for unmanned systems, and those systems offer possibilities for future anti-submarine warfare operations.

The intention was that these ships would be identical, but there is now a (provisional) difference: the Belgian ships will not be equipped with sixteen missile launch cells, but with eight. On 2021 the Belgian Minister of National Defense answered (some of the) questions from MPs Peter Buysrogge and Jasper Pillen about the ASWFs. Provisions will be made for the second, but it will not be purchased and not installed. Only in case of "a possible changing future threat will the provisions for systems for Belgium be further fleshed out in the future."

The two future frigates of the Belgian Navy will a priori be less well armed than their Dutch counterparts, the Minister of Defense, Ludivine Dedonder, confirmed December 2021. But Belgium will only order two VLS - unlike the Netherlands which will have four copies - said Ms. Dedonder (PS) in the House National Defense Committee.

“ Either to install them both on a single frigate, or to distribute them between the two frigates. second VLS on each Belgian frigate in the future) ", she said on Wednesday in response to a question from MP Jasper Pillen. "The filling rate (of the VLS) will depend on the type of mission. The self-defense capacity of the new frigates will be greater than that of the current M frigates ," added the Minister, who had already announced in February 2021 the purchase of two systems.

Mr Pillen, elected from West Flanders, described as a " problem " the fact that the armament of Belgian buildings could be less important. "So that will be a total of sixteen cells. Their number may be greater than the current total, but it will not exceed the equipment of a standard Russian corvette. That's a problem. The Dutch have 40 VLS on the De Zeven Provinciën class frigates ", underlined the liberal deputy.