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Nieuwe Fregatten

The Netherlands and Belgium are jointly purchasing multipurpose frigates and mine countermeasures vessels . Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten and her Belgian colleague Steven Vandeput took the next step 08 June 2018 by signing 2 Memoranda of Understanding. This happened on the sidelines of the 2-day NATO meeting that has been taking place in Brussels.

The cabinet had announced that it would replace the M-frigates and mine countermeasures vessels. Belgium is taking the lead in purchasing the 12 mine countermeasures vessels, 6 of which are for the Netherlands, and the associated unmanned systems. The Netherlands is taking the lead in purchasing the M-frigates. As the leading party, it concludes a contract for 4 frigates, 2 of which for Belgium.

Bijleveld stated: “You have to be able to count on the neighbors if you want to keep the neighborhood safe. And the Netherlands is very fortunate to have 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 surveillance, and education and training of our personnel.”

Defense requested quotations without competition from Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding and Thales Nederland. This is done at the frigates with a view to national security. Belgium does outsource the mine fighters in Europe. The 1st Dutch frigates and mine countermeasures are expected to be commissioned in 2025.

Today's M-frigates are virtually the same in configuration and operation, and so are the mine countermeasures vessels. This makes it possible for both countries to divide maintenance between them. This results in significant savings. The signing was originally scheduled for May 29 during the so-called Thalassa meeting in Brussels. This consultation between the Dutch and Belgian governments is intended to further strengthen cooperation. However, this meeting was canceled due to the attack in Liège.

Defense will replace the current M-frigates. The most important task of the frigates yet to be built will be to combat submarines from a distance. This is done with a new torpedo, which can be deployed from the ship or by the NH90 on-board helicopter. This is stated in the letter about the investigation phase that the House of Representatives received 24 June 2020 from State Secretary Barbara Visser. The current 4 M frigates of the Belgian and Dutch navies are at the end of their service life.

The research phase has now been completed with a design that meets the requirements of Defense and NATO. The partners Belgium and the Netherlands went through the design process with shipbuilder Damen and Thales. The latter is the supplier of the integrated radar and fire control system.

Making a careful trade-off between requirements, budget and planning turned out to be complex and took more time than expected. And there was also the preparation of the purchase of the Combat Support Ship. The available design capacity had to be divided over both projects, with the Defense given priority to the Combat Support Ship.

It was also investigated whether an 'off the shelf' design would provide a usable and affordable alternative more quickly. However, this design did not meet the requirements of the Ministry of Defense and would save little time. The research did help in the critical formulation of the requirements, for example in terms of mission modularity. The latter means that the frigate must be able to perform a variety of tasks. Those tasks are not all done during 1 and the same mission. By assuming this, the ship turned out to be smaller and cheaper. But the new frigate is still going to be bigger than the current M-frigate (5,500 tons against 3,300 tons).

It was initially reported that the 1st new frigate would be operational from about 2025. By 2020 it was clear that after the contract has been concluded, a detailed design phase of approximately 2 years is required before construction can start. This is longer than originally anticipated. The expectation is that the 1st ship will be delivered in 2027. After that, the operational effectiveness and safety are tested. The Navy is expected to receive the 1st frigate in 2028 and the 2nd a year later. The Belgian frigates will be delivered by 2030 at the latest. The project is now entering the so-called acquisition preparation phase. The result is expected at the end of 2021.

In addition to anti-submarine warfare, the new frigate must be able to protect itself and other units. It must be deployable worldwide for maritime combat and security operations and assistance. This calls for means of defense against threats from the air and from enemy ships. For this, the frigate ESSM Block 2 will receive anti-aircraft missiles and the replacement for the Goalkeeper rapid-fire cannon. These new weapon systems are complemented by heavy remote controlled machine guns and light machine guns against minor surface threats. For combating larger surface targets, the Ministry of Defense is purchasing the successor to the Harpoon anti-ship missile.

The main weapon system against submarines is the new torpedo purchased under the "Replacement Mk46 Lightweight Torpedo" project. For defense against enemy torpedoes, the frigates are provided with a system to deceive enemy torpedoes. In the future, a so-called hardkill system, an anti-torpedo torpedo, will follow.

The frigate has room for a crew of 110. For mission-specific personnel and their equipment 40 extra beds and different rooms are available.

The new navy frigate may be named after the first woman to join the navy in the Netherlands, the Parool reports. Junior defence minister Barbara Visser said the GroenLinks suggestion to name one of the two new frigates after Francien de Zeeuw was ‘a good one’. De Zeeuw, who had been active in the resistance movement, who joined the navy in 1944 after petitioning the then queen Wilhelmina to open up the navy to women, died in 2015. All navy frigates carry the names of men, places or animals and it is time a ship is named after a woman, GroenLinks MP Tom van den Nieuwenhuizen said during the debate on the defense budget on 04 December 2020. His motion was supported by coalition parties D66, VVD and CDA.

On December 8, 2020, the House passed the Van den Nieuwenhuijzen motionpassed on naming naval ships after women (Kamerstuk35 570 X, No. 40). The motion expresses the wish of the House that at least two of the newly acquired naval vessels, including frigates, will be named after women with great significance for Dutch freedom.

An earlier attempt to name a ship after De Zeeuw floundered and Van den Nieuwenhuizen remarked that if the committee was made up only of men it did not reflect the military as it is now. ‘That tradition might be in need of an upgrade,’ he said. Denk MP Selçuk Öztürk said one of the new frigates should be named after a member of the multicultural community. Van den Nieuwenhuizen said that his motion to nominate a woman did not exclude that possibility.

This meant that the Royal Navy Tradition Committee (TCKM) will submit a proposalformulates the name of a new naval vessel. The CommanderNaval Forces submit this to the Minister of Defence, who thenKing requests approval. After the King's approval, the naming is final.

The navy is going to name two new frigates after women, outgoing defense minister Henk Kamp wrote to the House of Representatives 30 November 2021.