In April 2018, the Dutch Government approved a multi-year investment program for the Dutch Navy and allocated funds for the 2018–2030 period. The Dutch Defence Materiel Administration (DMO) is in charge of the procurement of these new ships.
The following is a list of vessels currently under construction for the Royal Netherlands Navy:
Class | Ship | Pennant no. | Builder | Type | Displacement | Launched | Commissioning | Status | Source | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Den Helder-class | A834 | Damen Group | Combat Support Ship | 20,000 tonnes | 2024 (planned) | Fitting out | [1] [2] [3] | |||
Vlissingen-class | M840 | Kership | Mine Countermeasures Vessel | 2,800 tonnes | 2025 (planned) | Fitting out | [4] [5] | |||
M841 | Giurgiu shipyard (hull) Kership (fitting out) | 2026 (planned) | Under construction | [6] | ||||||
M842 | 2027 (planned) | Under construction | [7] | |||||||
Bakspier | Y8025 | Stormer Marine | Work Boat | 9,5 tonnes | 2024 (planned) | Under construction |
All four will be modernised.Upgrades include acquisition Tomahawk Cruise Missiles,[8] a new OtoMelara 127/64 LW canon, ESSM-2, new SMART-L MM/N, replacing the aging Goalkeeper CIWS with RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile.
See main article: article and Future Air Defender. In 2020 it was announced that these intensively used ships will not be replaced as planned around 2025. The Royal Netherlands Navy and the German Navy will cooperate towards a joint platform design to replace both the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate and the from 2030 onwards.
See main article: article and Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate (Koninklijke Marine). The two multipurpose M-frigates which are still in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy are reaching the end of their life; they were designed to last until 2018/2023. Because of this the Dutch Ministry of Defence started design studies in 2013. The new frigates are again planned to fulfill a general purpose role with anti-submarine warfare as its specialty. However, since the Netherlands Royal Navy only owns six frigates in total by 2017, the new ships have to be able to perform well in all areas of the spectrum. This means that anti-air equipment also has to be present, in the form of VLS (vertical launch)-cells carrying Standard Missile 2 or ESSM-projectiles. Due to budget cuts, the replacement program was delayed and is now projected to deliver the first ships in 2028–29.
In the 2022 Defense spending bill it was announced that at the end of their life cycle the four ships of the Holland-class will be replaced together with the two ships of the Rotterdam-class to form a new class of 'cross-over' ships with patrol-, amphibious- & emergency relief capabilities in mind.[9]
See main article: article and MICAN-program. On 23 November 2022 it was revealed that the navy is investigating the possibility of purchasing four commercially available offshore supply type vessels and use these ships as missile carriers. This program was known as The Rapidly Increased Firepower Capability (TRIFIC) and involves ships that would operate with a very small crew.[10] The TRIFIC-vessels could carry up to six container units with eight or more missiles (depending on missile size). One or more of these ships would accompany another vessel like a frigate or an OPV and use the guiding systems and radars of these ships to attack targets.[11]
In December 2023 the revised TRIFIC concept was announced as Modular Integrated Capability for ACDF and North Sea (MICAN). It was also revealed that instead of four ships, two are initially planned.[12] Also the mission of the concept has changed, from solely being used as a missle carrier, to also being used as a Signals intelligence gathering vessel.[13] [14]
The two ships in the Rotterdam-class, the and the have had several Updates. With the midlife update of Johan de Witt planned to take place in 2021–2022. Amongst other things the radars will be updated, with Thales NS100 radar & Thales Scout Mk3 replacing the Thales Variant radar & Kelvin Hughes radar.
In the 2022 Defense spending bill it was announced that at the end of their life cycle the two Rotterdam-class ships will be replaced together with the four ships of the Holland-class to form a new class of 'cross-over' ships with patrol-, amphibious- & emergency relief capabilities in mind.[9] In June 2023, the Netherlands and British governments announced that the two countries would "explore opportunities" to jointly develop new specialist amphibious warships.[17]
In 2023 the navy started with the MLU for all LCU Mk.IIs to bring them to LCU Mk.III standards. The first, L9528, was completed in January 2024.[18]
After the MLU the LCU's are expacted to remain in surface until at least 2032. After that they will get replaced. The A-letter for this is expacted in 2024.[19]
Acquisition of new LCVPs from 2025 with additional capacity to support amphibious operations and the integration of the German Navy Marines (Seebatallion). In March 2023, a report to the Dutch Parliament outlined a plan for 12 Littoral Assault Craft (LAC) and 8 Littoral Craft Mobility (LCM) to replace the 12 existing light landing craft (Landing Craft Vehicles and Personnel - LCVP) and improve on their capability.[20] [19]
The Netherlands and Belgium are doing a joint procurement for the replacements of the Alkmaar-class MCM ships. Both countries want to procure six new mine countermeasure (MCM) vessels, which makes for a total of 12 MCM ships. The new MCM ships will include a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization ROVs.[21]
See main article: article and City-class mine countermeasures vessel. The contract was won by Naval Group on 15 March 2019.[23] [24] Delivery of the first ship to the Royal Netherlands Navy is anticipated in 2025.[25]
The names for the six ships were announced during the keel laying ceremony for the first in class ship, .[26]
Vlissingen-class | |||
---|---|---|---|
Pennant no. | Name | Status | |
M 840 | Under construction | ||
M 841 | Under construction | ||
M 842 | Planned for 2027 | ||
M 843 | Planned for 2028 | ||
M 844 | Planned for 2028 | ||
M 845 | Planned for 2030 |
See main article: article and Walrus-class replacement program. In November 2014, the Dutch Minister of Defence announced plans to replace the s[27] in 2025.
In April 2022 it was announced that the revised schedule for construction of the new replacement boats would likely see the first two vessels entering service in the 2034 to 2037 timeframe.[28]
On 16 November 2022 the next phase in the program was started when DMO delivered the request for quotation to the three remaining yards. It is expected that the proposals will come in during the summer of 2023 with a final decision being made by the navy in late 2023 or early 2024.[29]
The Ministry of Defence has shortlisted three bidders:[30] [31]
Spain's Navantia's S-80 was not accepted as a contender following the B-letter in 2019.[37] In 2022 the Spanish Ministry of Defence send a letter to the DMO for Navantia to be allowed to put in an offer following a RfQ sent to the remaining contenders, in which some of the requirements have changed. It is rumoured that the request was denied by DMO. [38]
On 15 March 2024 State Secretary for Defence Christophe van der Maat officially announced that Naval Group has been selected as the winning bid.[39] [40] [41] Prior to this announcement, the winner was already leaked to several media outlets, which caused political backlash for choosing a foreign yard over a Dutch one.[42]
The names of the new submarines where also announced by van der Maat. The class will be known as the, with the subs named Orka, Zwaardvis, Barracuda and Tijgerhaai. The first two will be delivered within ten years after the contract has been signed.[39] [40] [41]
is a new replenishment oiler currently under construction. Also known as the Combat Support Ship (CSS), Den Helder is planned to fill the gap of replenishment at sea that was left after was sold to Peru in 2014. The contract was signed on February 19, 2020, on the bridge of the .[43] [44] [45]
The first steel was cut in a ceremony on December 2, 2020, at the Damen yard in Galati. On 2 June Damen Shipyards Galati has performed the keel-laying ceremony. The keel-laying ceremony was performed by the Director of the DMO, vice admiral Arie Jan de Waard and vice admiral Rob Kramer, Commander Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN).[46] The ship was formally laid down on 2 June 2021.[47] The first major section, measuring 90m (300feet), of the new vessel was launched in Galati on April 11, 2022.[48] The assembled ship was moved to a deeper part of the drydock in October 2022 with work expected to continue through 2023. Sea trials are anticipated in early 2024.[49]
See main article: article and Auxiliary ship replacement program. Replacement of,, the four diving support vessels of the, the diving training vessel, the hydrographic vessels of the (&) and the training vessel Van Kinsbergen from 2024 onwards.[50] On 16 June 2022 it was announced in the B-letter that these ten vessels will be replaced by eight new ships of the same family. Four will be ocean going and the other four are for coastal or inland duties. These ships will be built by a Dutch shipyard which will be selected in 2024.[51]
Ship | Type | First in service | Expected end of life | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Submarine support vessel | 1987 | 2026 | |||
Training ship | 1999 | 2024 | |||
Hydrographic survey vessel | 2003 | 2033 | |||
2004 | 2034 | ||||
Logistic support vessel | 2006 | 2031 |
Ship | Type | First in service | Expected end of life | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Diving support vessel | 1989 | 2026 / 2027 | ||
Diving support vessel | 1992 | 2026 / 2027 | ||
1992 | ||||
1992 | ||||
1992 |
See main article: article and Bolder-class tugboat. The navy is planning on replacing the five with three new line handling work boats. They are built by Stormer Marine in Hoorn and should be delivered in 2023 and 2024.[52] [53] [54] The name of the class was announced as the on 20 June 2023. The names of the ships are inspired by Dutch terms used in the towing industry: Bolder, Beting and Bakspier, respectively.[55]
The Dutch navy together with its Belgian counterpart is buying an undisclosed amount of UMS Skeldar V-200 drones. These will be primarily used onboard the for communication between the mothership and the USVs. Or use lidar to search for mines just below the surface.[56] [57] [58]
On 14 May 2024 it was announced that COMMIT was going to purchase an undisclosed amount of High Eye Airboxer drones for use by the navy.[59] [60]