After the keel for the first Belgian boat (as yet unnamed) was laid at the beginning of December 2021, the keel for the HNLMS Vlissingen, the first Dutch boat, was also celebrated in mid-June at the Naval Group in Lanester/Lorient. In accordance with the contract concluded in 2019 with Belgium Naval & Robotics as a consortium of the French Naval Group and the Belgian ECA Group, twelve mine defence units, each including a "toolbox" with a total of around one hundred system-integrated drones, are to be delivered for both countries.
Belgian-Dutch mine countermeasures programme Graphic: belgium-naval-and-robotics.be
Who does what
Naval Group is the prime contractor and is responsible for the development of the platform and the integration of all systems, as well as in particular for the proof of performance and the delivery of the mission systems (command and control, deployment, mine defence). Kership and Piriou (joint venture with Naval Group) in Concarneau, just under 50 kilometres west of Lorient, are responsible for the sectional construction of the hull on the slipway in the middle of the town and the final outfitting on the pier next door. Everything is very clearly laid out - where the OPVs of the small Gowind class (Adroit) were built for Argentina. ECA Group in Ostend, Belgium, is responsible for the flying, floating and diving drone equipment in the "toolbox". After the first delivery in 2024 and the subsequent deliveries until 2030, the maintenance work will be carried out by Naval Group Belgium and its partner Flanders Ship Repair.
ECA-Group UMISOFT mine defence situation picture and drone control. Photo: eca-group
Data and dimensions
The boats will be almost 83 metres long, displace 2,800 tonnes and be able to run at 15 knots. The basic crew of 33 is set to double in the event of a mission. Eleven drones will be carried and controlled in the ECA Group's UMISOFT package: 2 surface, 3 underwater, 2 sonar, 2 identification and combat systems, as well as 2 flying systems.
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