In the French city of Concarneau, a head minesweeper developed under the Mine Counter Measures program was laid. In total, twelve such ships will be built: six each for the Netherlands and Belgium.
On Tuesday, November 30, the ceremony of the official laying of the new generation head minesweeper developed under the Mine Counter Measures program was held in Concarneau. Twelve such ships will become part of the Belgian and Dutch fleets in the future. Minesweepers will replace ships of the Tripartite type.
The lead ship was named M 940 Oostende: it is being built for Belgium. The delivery of the minesweeper is scheduled for 2024. The first representative of the project for the Dutch Navy will be commissioned in 2025.
The appearance of a new generation mine-fighting ship of the joint Belgian-Dutch program
Image Source: Belgian Navy
The groundbreaking ceremony was held with the participation of the Chief of Defense of Belgium, Admiral Michel Hoffmann and the Commander of the Armed Forces of the Netherlands, General Onno Eichelsheim. The general contractor for the construction of mine—resistant ships of a new type is the Naval Group association.
Laying of a new generation ship of the joint Belgian-Dutch program
Image Source: Belgian Navy
An agreement for the construction of twelve new-generation mine-fighting ships was signed in 2019. The contract amount was two billion euros.
We are talking about fairly large units with a total displacement of 2,800 tons. The maximum length of the case is 82.6 meters, the width is 17 meters. The cruising range of the ship is more than 3,500 miles, the maximum speed is 15.3 knots. The crew consists of 63 people.
The mine-fighting ship carries a 40-millimeter BAE Systems Bofors Mk 4 artillery system and machine-gun mounts. He will receive a wide arsenal of mine countermeasures of the UMIS complex. Among other things, the ship will have automatic underwater vehicles A18-M, towed sonar stations T18-M and anti-mine vehicles Seascan and K-ster C.
Representatives of the project will receive integrated MCM Umisoft mine protection systems connected to the I4 Drones system.
Recall that in October, the French launched the lead patrol ship Auguste Benebig, which was developed under the Ratrouilleurs Outre-Meg program. It will be used in overseas territories. In total, six such ships will be built.
In November, the Spanish shipbuilding company Navantia showed what a European frigate of the future might look like. The concept was called SMART 4000. They want to supply the ship with a 76-millimeter artillery installation, missile systems and UAVs.
