BE/NL rMCM replacement - Program
The Netherlands and Belgium jointly purchase multipurpose frigates and mine control vessels. Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten and her Belgian colleague Steven Vandeput took the next step with the signing of 2 Memoranda of Understanding. This happened in the margins of the 2-day NATO meeting that took place in Brussels 06 August 2018. The Netherlands government announced that it would replace the M-frigates and mine-fighting vessels. Belgium takes the lead in the purchase of the 12 mine-fighting vessels, of which 6 for the Netherlands, and the associated unmanned systems. The Netherlands takes the lead in the purchase of the M-frigates. As a leading party, it concludes a contract for 4 frigates, 2 of which for Belgium.
Minister Bijleveld said: "You have to be able to count on the neighbors if you want to keep the neighborhood safe. And the Netherlands is very happy with such southern neighbors. Our cooperation is good. Very well. We look back on decades of cooperation between our armed forces. In the field of missions, maintenance, cross-border logistics and air monitoring, and training and training of our staff. "
The Netherlands MCM vessels of the Alkmaar class have been successfully operated for about 30 years. These ships have been co-developed with France and Belgium. The Belgian and Netherlands navies operate their fleet of identical MCM vessels jointly. For the next generation MCM vessels, Belgium and the Netherlands plan to continue their close, fruitful collaboration and develop, procure, operate and maintain the new ships together, for both their navies.
These ships would be built in cooperation with the Belgian navy that has the lead in this project. The tender would be a EU public tender with the contract to be awarded in 2019, there have been a few possible suppliers that have stated their interest in the program include:
- Damen Shipyards (NLD) : unknown design / ? t
- Saab Kockems (SWE) : MCMV 80 / 1250 t
- STX France /Socarenam / EDR shipyards (FRA / BEL) : DeviceSeas-concept / 3700 t
- BMT (UK) : Venari 85 / ? t
Belgium would receive the first ship in 2023.
For the new Mine countermeasures vessel's (MCMV's) there were soon only three left in the race, originally 5 were left but Navantia (Spain) was rejected due to the lack of bank guarantees and Saab had withdrawn the offer due to the short terms of the contract. The offers that were still in the race were:
- Naval Group & ECA Group
- Damen Shipyards & Atlas Elektronik & Elbit Systems
- Chantiers de l'Atlantique & Socarenam & EDR Antwerp & Thales Belgium (under the name Sea Naval Solutions)
None of the offers had been made public only some concept art by Damen and Sea Naval Solutions. The decision was expected in December 2018.
On 15 March 2019, Belgium Naval & Robotics, a consortium of Naval Group [formerly DCNS] and ECA Robotics, was selected to build the minehunters and their drone systems under a ten-year contract worth an estimated two billion euros. The joint program to replace the two countries’ aging Tripartite-class minehunters was led by Belgium and includes a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization ROVs. Following a call for tenders launched in the summer of 2018, Belgium has just attributed to the Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium, bringing together Naval Group and ECA Robotics, the supply of twelve mine-hunting vessels and their toolbox (payloads).
On 22 May 2019 the Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium, composed of Naval Group and ECA Group, was awarded the contract to supply twelve mine-hunting vessels to the Belgian and Dutch navies. Equipped with around 100 drones, constituting approximately ten drone systems (toolboxes), six ships are destined for the Belgian Navy, while the other six would be delivered to the Dutch Navy. The contract, worth nearly two billion euros, would last ten years. After a three-year design phase, Belgium Naval & Robotics would launch the production phase of the ships and drone systems with a first delivery expected in 2024.
The Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium as well as the Naval Group and ECA Group teams were honored by the confidence of the Belgian and Dutch navies and look forward to this upcoming collaboration. Belgium Naval & Robotics would carry out a significant part of the contract in Belgium, in particular the production of certain equipment for the ship and all naval drones. Ship maintenance would be carried out in Zeebrugge in partnership with Flanders Ship Repair (FSR). The maintenance of naval drones would also be carried out in Zeebrugge according to the needs of the customer, who already has maintenance facilities on his naval base. The cooperation plan already includes 39 Belgian partners and the notification of the contract would make it possible to finalize the last ones and reach some 50 agreements. The contract should thus generate an average of 350 jobs per year in the three regions of Belgium.
The first delivery is scheduled for the end of 2024 in Zeebrugge, Belgium. Deliveries would then be staggered until 2030. On 30 November 2021, Naval Group laid the keel for the first of the twelve mine countermeasure vessels of the Belgian-Dutch rMCM program, intended for Belgium. The keel laying ceremony took place in Concarneau.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
