Royal Netherlands Navy

from JDW 16 Nov 2005

Dutch fleet plan offers industry opportunities
Joris Janssen Lok JDW Correspondent
The Hague
The study into the future force structure of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN), completed in October, opens the door to “significant opportunities” for naval shipbuilding and combat systems industries in the Netherlands and abroad, sources in The Hague have told JDW.
The seven-point study includes five key procurement proposals:
* the acquisition of a joint support ship with a reinforced flight deck capable of operating two Boeing CH-47D Chinook-type medium-lift helicopters simultaneously, a full-size hangar and a cargo deck capable of sealifting heavy military equipment;
* the acquisition of four 90 m patrol ships with a flight deck and hangar to support one NH Industries NH90 helicopter, facilities to launch and recover large 50+ kt Super RHIBs (rigid hull inflatable boats) and with an armament of one medium gun and several machine guns;
* the acquisition of 30 Raytheon Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles for installation on board the recently delivered LCF-type air defence and command frigates. Furthermore, the LCFs will be upgraded for theatre ballistic missile defence (TBMD), while the Dutch will invest in a joint development with Italy of Vulcano long-range precision-guided munitions for their Oto Melara 127 mm guns for land attack capacity;
* the upgrade of four Walrus-class submarines with an improved medium-range (flank array) sonar and new mine avoidance sonar, plus the acquisition of a low-frequency towed-array sonar for two M-type frigates; and
* the acquisition of a minesweeping component in the form of remote-controlled drones that are to work with the newly modernised tripartite minehunters of the Alkmaar class.
Another, non-procurement-related, measure is to increase the active front-line strength of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps’ two battalions to 675 troops each.
The downside of the plan is that an additional four M-frigates, commissioned as recently as the 1990s, are to be sold. Two of the eight hulls built have already been sold to Chile, while a third and a fourth are presently the subject of ongoing discussions with Belgium. A letter of intent covering the transfer of these warships to Brussels has already been signed.
A fifth and a sixth ship are now also to be put up for sale, leaving two in service.
“The sale of the M-frigates will generate and free the necessary funds to procure the four patrol ships,” Defence Minister Henk Kamp said. He added that because the two frigates sold to Belgium are to remain within the integrated Belgian-Netherlands Task Group (replacing small, obsolete Wielingen-class frigates), the operational loss of capability would be “limited”.
The new joint support ship, the first to be built of the five new ships that are proposed, is to replace the 1970s-built fleet replenishment ship HrMs Zuiderkruis. Rather than a through-deck helicopter carrier, current plans call for this vessel to be a hybrid between a helicopter support ship, a strategic sealift ship and a replenishment ship capable of refuelling and resupplying warships at sea.
The patrol ships (maximum speed: 20 kts; the helicopter and high-speed surface craft are to provide an intercept capability against surface targets) will be designed to be operated by a crew of 50, but they will also have accommodation for 40 additional personnel (special forces, law enforcement team, etc) and provisions to take on board up to 100 displaced persons and two large containers during disaster relief operations.
The patrol ships are to be optimised in terms of efficiency for coastguard-style patrols in the Caribbean and in European waters, as well for taking part in low-intensity peace support operations worldwide.
The vessels will be equipped with a sensor suite comprising a “package of sensors designed to monitor air and surface traffic in the area and to safeguard the safety and security of the own unit, including the ship, the helicopters and the RHIBs”, Kamp said.
It will, however, be a “compact” suite in comparison with that of a frigate because “complex missions such as anti-air or anti-submarine warfare are not required”.
The combat management system will be tailored to the core mission of the ship, including the ability to co-ordinate boardings, search-and-rescue and force protection operations with other units and with the shore-based headquarters.
Industries that are expected to benefit directly from the proposals – provided they are approved by the Dutch Parliament and sustained by the country’s next (post-2007) government that is forecast to be of a left-wing leaning – include:
* the Netherlands Maritime Cluster, comprising Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (owned by Damen Shipyards), Thales Nederland (naval combat systems) and Imtech Marine & Offshore (integrated platform systems);
* the RNLN’s in-house Centre for the Automation of Mission-critical Systems (CAMS Force Vision) for the design and development of the new ships’ combat management systems;
* Raytheon Missile Systems (manufacturer of the Tomahawk and of TBMD-capable variants of the standard missile); and
* undersea defence systems companies such as Atlas Elektronik, Kongsberg Maritime and Thales Underwater Systems (for the sonar upgrades for the remaining M-frigates and submarines and for the minesweeping system).