TSAMTO, May 7. The launch of a minesweeper, which is being built as part of the rMCM (robotic Mine Counter Measure) program jointly implemented by Belgium and the Netherlands, took place at the Kership shipyard in Lanester (near Lorient).
The minesweeper, which will be named M942 Bruges, is the fifth of 12 ships under construction under the rMCM program and the third designed for the Belgian Navy.
After launching, the Bruges will be towed to the Piriou company's facility in Concarneau (Finisterre Department), where it will be completed with equipment and tested.
As reported by CAMTO, the project for the supply of 12 new minesweepers is being implemented jointly by the Ministries of Defense of Belgium and the Netherlands.
In May 2019, according to the results of the tender, the contract for the supply of 12 new mine warfare systems based on minesweepers was awarded to the consortium Belgium Naval & Robotics (formed by Naval Group and ECA Robotics). The official signing ceremony with the Ministries of Defense of Belgium and the Netherlands took place in July 2019. According to its terms, each of the two countries buys six ships equipped with appropriate mine defense systems, including about a hundred underwater unmanned vehicles. The cost of a 10-year contract for the supply and maintenance of systems is estimated at 2.2 billion. euro.
Cutting of steel for the construction of the lead minesweeper designed for the Belgian Navy began in July 2021. The M940 Ostend was launched in March 2023. On the same day, the keel of the second ship for the Belgian Navy, the M941 Tournai, was laid. The laying of the keel of the third ship for the Belgian Navy, the M942 Bruges, took place on January 31, 2024. Sea trials of the M940 Ostend began on April 17, 2025.
In May 2024, it was announced that, at the request of the Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium, the delivery schedule for the first four minesweepers would be changed.
So, the first ship will be delivered to the Belgian Navy not in 2024, as previously planned, but in the summer of 2025. The delay in the delivery of the Dutch Navy minesweeper M840 Vlissingen will be from five to six months. The minesweepers M941 Tourne for the Belgian Navy and M841 Scheveningen for the Dutch Navy will be delivered one and two months late, respectively. The situation should return to normal after the delivery of the fifth ship of the series in December 2026. The last platform should be delivered to customers in 2030.
In order to accelerate the implementation of the rMCM program, the capabilities of the Piriou enterprise in Giurgiu (Romania) were used. The ceremony of laying the keel of the fourth ship for the Belgian Navy, M943 Liege, took place at this shipyard in January 2025.
In February 2025, representatives of Belgium, the Netherlands and France signed an official letter granting France a sublicense allowing the use of a minesweeper project developed by the French Naval Group under the rMCM program. The agreement grants the new member of the alliance equal rights to the construction of the platform vessel. In the future, the Navies of all three countries will receive and use similar platforms, similar to the Tripartit-class minesweepers in service over the past 40 years.
The French Navy will receive ships of a slightly modified design.
