A big export success is confirmed for Naval Group: the French company formalized on Monday the sale of four latest generation submarines to the Netherlands, as part of the renewal of the Dutch fleet, a project worth several billion euros. euros.
Despite the change of government in the Netherlands, the French public group chosen by The Hague in March is thus carrying out the export of its Barracuda submarine, 12 examples of which had been sold to Australia before Canberra canceled the contract in 2021.
Gijs Tuinman, Dutch Secretary of State for Defense, and Pierre Eric Pommellet, CEO of Naval Group, signed on Monday “the delivery agreement relating to the Dutch submarine replacement program” at the Den Helder shipyard (Country -Bas), announced Naval Group in a press release.
The amount of the contract was not revealed, but Christophe van der Maat, then Dutch Secretary of State for Defense, told AFP in March that the budget for the project was 5.6 billion euros, and that Naval Group’s offer was “lower” than this amount.
In March, the Netherlands announced that it had chosen the French group to the detriment in particular of the tandem formed by the Swede Saab and the Dutch Damen, as part of a program to renew the fleet in service since the early 1990s.
– “head start” –
“Naval Group is honored to have been chosen by one of NATO’s most advanced submarine fleet operators, meeting high operational and technical requirements,” Mr. Pommellet was quoted as saying in the press release.
Barracuda submarines are very quiet, making them difficult to detect. With advanced capabilities in terms of detection and firepower, they will play a key role in protecting the country’s territorial waters and maritime routes, essential to free trade.
The competition pitted Naval Group, allied with the Dutch Royal IHC, against the German Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), and the Swedish Saab which formed an alliance with the Dutch shipbuilder Damen.
This long process, which began in 2015, aims to replace the four Walrus-class submarines launched in the early 1990s, the first of which was withdrawn from service last fall so that its parts could be used to maintain the others.
The submarines Orka, Zwaardvis, Barracuda and Tijgerhaai, which Naval Group will supply “will give the Royal Netherlands Navy a head start in the field of underwater warfare”, underlined Monday Jan Willem Hartman, commander of the Dutch government agency COMMIT.
The first two must enter service within ten years of signing the contract.
According to the daily La Tribune, the last two must be delivered before the end of 2039. Questioned by AFP, Naval Group refused to communicate at this stage on this point.
In March, Naval Group promised to ensure that “the Dutch ecosystem develops and maintains its expertise and involvement throughout the submarine lifecycle.”
The signing on September 10 of the industrial cooperation agreement between Naval Group and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs preceded the finalization of the deal.
The assembly of the submarines for the Netherlands will be carried out at the Naval Group site in Cherbourg (Manche), in the north-west of France, where French nuclear submarines are produced.
But according to the industrial cooperation agreement (ICA), Dutch defense will also be able to take advantage of the contract to strengthen its technological and industrial base.
A first Barracuda, the Suffren, equips the French Navy in a nuclear-powered version. The model intended for the Netherlands is with conventional diesel-electric propulsion and a little smaller, 3,000 tonnes compared to 4,500 tonnes.
The Dutch Navy has expressed its need for long-range ocean-going submarines to be able to operate far from its bases, which is what the Barracuda was designed for.
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