Royal Netherlands Navy

[Redlands18]

I see the Netherlands is approved for its 8 Cell mk41 VLS. Are these for new ships or upgrading existing? It seems there are conflicting reports.

The Netherlands – MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) | Defense Security Cooperation Agency

www.dsca.mil

Dutch Defence reaches agreement with Damen for ASW frigates (swzmaritime.nl)
The Netherlands and Belgium are acquiring 2 Damen designed ASW Frigates each to replace the 4 M Class currently in service, as a joint project. All 4 are to be built under one project in Romania starting in 2025, I would say these are for at least the Dutch ships, whether the Belgian ships would require a separate FMS, I have no idea. Given its 8x8 VLS for primarily 6400t ASW Frigates though.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Dutch Defence reaches agreement with Damen for ASW frigates (swzmaritime.nl)
The Netherlands and Belgium are acquiring 2 Damen designed ASW Frigates each to replace the 4 M Class currently in service, as a joint project. All 4 are to be built under one project in Romania starting in 2025, I would say these are for at least the Dutch ships, whether the Belgian ships would require a separate FMS, I have no idea. Given its 8x8 VLS for primarily 6400t ASW Frigates though.

Aankoop lanceerinrichting voor Nederlandse fregatten goedgekeurd door VS

Mk 41 met maximale lengte

marineschepen.nl

|"Zoals verwacht gaat het om acht modules van de MK 41 van Lockheed Martin; voor ieder schip twee. En omdat iedere acht cellen heeft, krijgt ieder schip zestien cellen."|

So according to this website this acquisition is also for the two Belgium frigates.

 

[Ananda]

The Netherlands and Belgium Sign Final Agreement for ASWF Frigates - Naval News

Dutch and Belgian defense ministers signed the final agreement for the procurement of 4 ASWF frigates, two frigates for each navy.

www.navalnews.com

Further news on the ASWF frigates, as Naval News put article on final contract being signed by both Dutch and Belgium defense minister. Also in contract Dutch agree to spend Euro 355 Mio on Belgium defense industry, as seems as compensation for Dutch having more industrial share in the contract.

Naval news also put add information that the contract also open option for third Dutch Frigate.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Yes, the third is under option, but for now the plan is that only two frigates will be build for the Netherlands. The contract will be signed on 29 juni on board the Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman, but the ship will be soon out of service for a year. The transformators of the propulsion system have technical problems, repair is not possible so they have to be replaced, which is a complicated operation.

Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman rest van jaar tegen de kant door technische problemen

Problemen met transformatoren

marineschepen.nl

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

The first of ordered OTO Melara 127 mm guns is arrived and installed on the Zr.Ms Evertsen.

Nieuw kanon Evertsen geleverd, contract volgende kanons nabij

Kanons voor elf schepen

marineschepen.nl

De Ministerie van Defensie has ordered four OTO Melara 76mm Sovraponte naval guns for the four new anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates. These ships arr under construction for the Belgium and Netherlands navies and will replace the Karel Doormanklasse M-fregatten. OTO Melara will also provide a spare system. This gun will be fitted accordingly as a replacement for the systems undergoing major maintenance.

In addition, the contract includes an option for the delivery of 3 more Sovraponte naval gun systems. These are for Zr.Ms.Karel Doorman and Zr.Ms John de Witt, respectively. These guns will be used to replace the current Goalkeeper close-in weapon systems. The third gun will be used aboard the new supply ship which will get the name Den Helder. This ship will be launched in 2025. The gun will be mounted later.

The turrets are from a new stealthy design and look similar to the turrets of the 40 mm naval guns from the same manufacturer.

The Netherlands Select Leonardo's New Sovraponte Guns for ASWF - Naval News

The Dutch Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Leonardo for the procurement of 76 mm Sovraponte guns for the ASWF frigates.

www.navalnews.com

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

The Luchtverdedigings- en CommandoFregat Zr.Ms.De Ruyter F804 will sail next year to the Pacific Ocean to test fire a Tomahawk cruise missile, as first naval ship from the Netherlands.

Voor eerste Nederlandse Tomahawk-lancering De Ruyter in 2024 naar Pacific

Tromp naar de Oost

marineschepen.nl

It was confirmed this year that the Netherlands would get the Tomahawk cruise missile, but until now it is unclear from which variant amd how many.

Defensie versterkt vuurkracht met raketartillerie en langeafstandswapens

Defensie versterkt de vuurkracht van de krijgsmacht. Dat gebeurt met de aanschaf van raketartillerie voor de landmacht en langeafstandswapens voor de marine en luchtmacht. Deze systemen kunnen over langere afstand met grote precisie en kracht doelen bereiken. Dat schrijft staatssecretaris...

www.defensie.nl

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

The Zr.Ms Walrus S802 will be definitively retired on thursday 12 Oktober 2023, after more than 31 years of service. Zr.Ms Walrus was commissioned in 1992, but it is to be expected that we have to wait for more than 10 years for the replacement.

Onderzeeboot Walrus volgende week als eerste uit dienst

Vervanging over tien jaar

marineschepen.nl

Update:
So, Zr.Ms.Walrus is officially decommissioned now after 31 years of service. The submarine will be used for spare parts for the remaining 3 boats.

Dutch navy starts retiring submarines, but successor still unknown

The lead vessel of the Walrus class was decommissioned after 31 years of service and will be used for parts.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

The development of the LCF/Zevenprovinciënklasse (and F-124 Sachsenklasse) will continue without German involvement. Differences in priorities, like the German wish to use the AEGIS and Hensoldt systems instead of HSA systems and the MEKO platform to speed up the development and construction has led to this.

Streep door Duits-Nederlandse fregatten

Beide landen kiezen eigen koers

marineschepen.nl

 

[swerve]

The Dutch have the Damen F126 design which they might be able to use as a baseline.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

The Dutch have the Damen F126 design which they might be able to use as a baseline.

It is indeed very likely that Koninklijke Schelde (Damen) will use that design for the new frigate program, or at least it will have some F-126 DNA. Maybe a little bit reduced in size and displacement and full of HSA stuff.

 

[kato]

The Dutch have the Damen F126 design which they might be able to use as a baseline.

I'd have to search a bit, but i think i remember that as part of the contract the rights to the design lay with (were sold to) the German government.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

An official launch ceremony for Vlissingen (M840), the first new mine-countermeasures vessel (MCMV) on order for the Koninklijke Marine, was held at Piriou's shipyard in Concarneau, France, on 19 October.

The Vlissingen is not built in Vlissingen, but at least it has HSA systems in board. The vessel is scheduled to be delivered to the KM in mid-2025.

Deze nieuwe schepen betekenen grote stap voor Mijnendienst

Vlissingen te water gelaten

marineschepen.nl

First new MCM vessel for Dutch navy launched

An official launch ceremony for Vlissingen, thefirst new mine-countermeasures vessel (MCMV) on order for the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN), was held at Piriou's shipyard...

www.janes.com

Update: here we have a video of the launch.

Video: Netherlands First New MCM Mothership Launched by Naval Group - Naval News

Naval Group ceremonially launched the first mine countermeasure mothership for the Royal Netherlands Navy: HNLMS Vlissingen.

www.navalnews.com

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

"No guts, no Hollands Glorie!"

So the Dutch government wants to recover the shipbuildingindustry in the Netherlands. They have come with a plan of 25 points to improve and strengthen this industry to old times of glory and they want invest €60 million in the next two years to support this program.

With this they hope the Netherlands will be less dependent from other countries and will build again naval ships in its own shipyards. A little bit late, but "beter laat dan nooit".

Kabinet wil dat Nederland weer zelf belangrijke schepen gaat bouwen

Met actief industriebeleid en financiële steun moet de scheepsbouwsector opgestuwd worden in de vaart der volkeren.

nos.nl

 

[John Fedup]

"No guts, no Hollands Glorie!"

So the Dutch government wants to recover the shipbuildingindustry in the Netherlands. They have come with a plan of 25 points to improve and strengthen this industry to old times of glory and they want invest €60 million in the next two years to support this program.

With this they hope the Netherlands will be less dependent from other countries and will build again naval ships in its own shipyards. A little bit late, but "beter laat dan nooit".

Kabinet wil dat Nederland weer zelf belangrijke schepen gaat bouwen

Met actief industriebeleid en financiële steun moet de scheepsbouwsector opgestuwd worden in de vaart der volkeren.

nos.nl

They have several yards building large yachts so their ship building industry isn’t totally absent. If you want a large sailing yacht, Royal Huisman is hard to beat. Another yard built the monster sailing yacht Jeff Bezos just took delivery of. No tax payer dollars involved either.

 

[Meriv90]

I don't have my thesis with its maps at hand. But the renewable sector in the North Sea is going to push local shipbuilding significantly.

For that reason also shipbuilding in Germany is moving away from shipbuilding to the energy sector that have way bigger margins of profits.

I hope after the energy sector deep sea fish farming is next (Vard had some nice designs if I remember correctly).

 

[Meriv90]

Global Offshore Renewable Map | 4C Offshore

map.4coffshore.com

This map is indicative of the amount of projects in the north sea.

The EU blue economy report 2022 - Publications Office of the EU

In its fifth edition, the EU Blue Economy Report continues to analyse the scope and size of the Blue Economy in the European Union. It aims at providing support to policymakers and stakeholders in the quest for a sustainable development of oceans, coastal resources and, most notably, to the...

op.europa.eu

And from this EU report you can see how remunerative is the energy off-shore sector.

I'm posting Germany and not Netherlands because the Netherlands don't have the GVA from it.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

An interesting article for the Dutch members of Defencetalk. A little bit too late, because the elections are already behind us, but this article was only posted on 21 November.

Here we can read that the left political parties like PvdA, SP, Groen Links en Bij1 love to take decisions against the navy/defence. Frans Timmermans from the PvdA was the one who decided to get rid of the P-3 Orions, and he demanded even that the Onderzeebootdienst had to be disbanded.

It seems to be that the PVV from Geert Wilders will get the most votes in the election this month, it is not really clear which direction they choose, probably in favor of defence, more or less.
|"De PVV zegt voorstander te zijn van een stevige krijgsmacht, maar zwijgt over investeringen."|

Verkiezingen 2023: hoe belangrijk vonden politieke partijen Defensie?

Een korte terugblik op defensievergaderingen en -moties.

marineschepen.nl

Something else, the Zr.Ms.Holland is on her way to the eastern part of the Mediterranean. It is not clear yet what the tasks of the ship will be, but the current destination is Cyprus.

Holland op weg voor hulp aan Gaza, sluit mogelijk aan bij NAVO-eskader

Vanmiddag vertrek uit Den Helder

marineschepen.nl

 

[Ananda]

Xavier video from NEDS 2023 shown SAAB-DAMEN C71 submarine. Base and enlarge design from Swedish ones. Damen ASW Frigate and their project for German F126, LHD for Dutch and UK and Multipurpose Ship for Portuguese.

F126 being around 10000 ton really emphasis more on modularity. Still question for me, as it is reducing their own inherent VLS capacities.

 

[John Fedup]

Some more information on the Saab-Damen sub offering for the Netherlands. Same displacement as the SK design. Both projects are potential candidates for the RCN. No idea how a future government will fund the RCN for 12 boats. Potential bidders should assume 4-6....maybe! The Saab-Damen design for Netherlands will competitive since it is a EU offering. Haven't heard much about the Germans are offering, perhaps a similar design that Germany and Norway are buying?

Saab - Damen Offering C718 Submarine to the Netherlands - Naval News

 

[Redlands18]

Video: Future Dutch Submarine – Naval Group's Barracuda - Naval News
Video: Future Dutch Submarine – TKMS Type 212CD E - Naval News
Video: Future Dutch Submarine - Saab C71 (based on A26) - Naval News
The French are offering the conventional version of the Suffren, basically a variant of the RANs Attack class.
The Germans a version of the Sub being built for the German and Norwegian Navies.