The Naval News resource reported that France has joined the joint Belgian-Dutch Mine Counter Measures (rMCM) program for the construction of a new generation of mine-fighting ships. The corresponding memorandum of understanding was signed by the Ministries of Defense of Belgium, the Netherlands and France on August 30, 2023. According to the memorandum, the basic design of the mine-fighting ship of the Belgian-Dutch rMCM program will be used as the basis for the design of a promising mine-fighting ship under the Bâtiments de guerre des Mines (BDGM) program of the French Navy. Previously, it is planned to build six mine-fighting ships for the French fleet under the BDGM program.
The new generation M 940 Oostende lead mine-fighting ship of the joint Belgian-Dutch Mine Counter Measures (rMCM) program, which is being completed in the dry dock of the French shipbuilding company Piriou in Concarneau, September 2023 (c) C. des Déserts
Recall that in May 2019, the consortium Belgium Naval & Robotics, as part of the French shipbuilding association Naval Group and the French group ECA Group (from 2022 it is called Exail) signed a contract with the Belgian Ministry of Defense (also acting on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Defense) worth about 2 billion euros for construction for the Belgian and Dutch Navies 12 mine-fighting ships of a new generation (six units for each of the fleets) under the rMCM program to replace the Tripartite-type minesweepers currently in service. 600-ton minesweepers-mine seekers of the joint Franco-Belgian-Dutch Tripartite program were built in the 1980s, when 15 minesweepers were built for the Dutch Navy and ten each for the French and Belgian Navies.
Earlier in March 2019, a preliminary contract for this program was signed by the Ministries of Defense of Belgium and the Netherlands with the announced winner in the relevant tender consortium Belgium Naval & Robotics. The agreement on the joint program of Belgium and the Netherlands for the acquisition of 12 new mine-fighting ships, as well as on the program for the joint acquisition of four new frigates (two for each of the parties, to replace the M-type frigates) was previously agreed by the Governments of Belgium and the Netherlands in November 2016 and finally finalized in early 2018, while the main The role in the mine warfare program is assigned to the Belgian side.
The general contractor for the construction of anti-mine ships in the consortium Belgium Naval & Robotics is Naval Group, which carries out their construction in the framework of the joint venture Kership with the French shipbuilding company Piriou. The latter carries out the direct construction of ships at its shipyards in Concarneau and Lanester under a subcontract. Naval Group is responsible for the design of ships, the overall integration of systems, as well as for the testing of ships, their commissioning and subsequent technical support in operation.
The new mine-fighting ships for the Belgian and Dutch Navies, being built under the rMCM program, are unusually large units with a total displacement of 2,800 tons. The maximum length of the hull is 82.6 m, width 17 m. The cruising range will be more than 3,500 miles, the maximum speed of 15.3 knots and autonomy of 30 days. The crew is 63 people.
According to the publication "Naval News", based on information from the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) of the Ministry of the Armed Forces of France, the French ships proposed for construction under the rMCM / BDGM program will differ from the Belgian-Dutch anti-mine weapons complex. If for the Belgian and Dutch ships the supplier of the mine warfare complex is the Exail group (former ESA), then the French are planned to be equipped with the MLCM mine warfare complex, created under the head role of the Thales group within the framework of the joint Franco-British Système de lutte anti-mines futur / Future Mine Warfare System (SLAM-F / MMCM), and also representing a combination of underwater and surface remotely controlled and autonomous vehicles. Anti-mine ships under the French BGDM program with the MLCM complex will be ordered as part of the second stage of the SLAM-F / MMCM program, with the order of the head unit in 2024 and the transfer to the French Navy in 2028. In total, six of these ships are now planned to be built to replace the Tripartite-type minesweepers remaining in the French Navy. The first stage of the SLAM-F /MMCM program provides for the deployment in 2023-2024 of four MLCM complexes in a containerized land-based version to protect the French naval bases - Brest, Cherbourg and Toulon, and first of all the bases of the French strategic naval nuclear forces Il-Long.
The MLCM complex includes, among other things, two mine-resistant Halcyon carrier boats jointly developed by Thales and the British branch of the L3Harris Corporation. A feature of the French ships will be expanded capabilities for underwater operations and actions on the seabed. For this purpose, in particular, the French ships will be equipped with appropriate cargo modules and decompression chambers, which will lead to an increase in the length of the hull by 3.6 m (up to 86.2 m), and displacement - up to about 3,000 tons. The issue of installing a new 40-mm Nexter/Thales RapidFire artillery system using telescopic shots on French ships is also being considered, instead of the 40-mm Bofors Mk 4 artillery systems planned to be installed on Belgian and Dutch ships.
The lead ship of the Franco-Belgian rMCM program is being built for the Belgian navy and was named M 940 Oostende (construction number C371). Its construction was carried out at the Piriou company's facility in Concarneau, where it was officially laid down on November 30, 2021 and actually launched on February 22, 2023, the official launching ceremony took place on March 29, 2023. Its delivery to the Belgian Navy is scheduled for the end of 2024. The hull of the lead ship for the Dutch Navy M 840 Vlissingen was built at the Piriou (Kership) shipyard in Lanester near Lorian, where it was officially laid down on June 14, 2023 and launched on September 29, 2023, after which the hull was towed for completion to Concarneau, where an official "launching" ceremony took place on October 19. Its delivery is scheduled for 2025. Thus, all ships will be completed in Concarneau, and for retrofitting with combat systems and passing tests, they will be diverted from Concarneau to the Naval Group arsenal in Lorian.
After 2025, the Belgian and Dutch fleets should receive one ship per year. All 12 ships were named after Belgian and Dutch cities - the Belgian ships were named Oostende, Tournai, Brugge, Liège, Antwerp and Rochefort, and the Dutch - Vlissingen, Scheveningen, Ijmuiden, Harlingen, Delfzijl and Schiedam. The second ship for Belgium M 941 Tournai was officially laid down on March 29, 2023, and the second Dutch ship M 841 Scheveningen was laid down on July 19, 2023.
Launched the lead mine-fighting ship of the new generation under construction for the Dutch Navy of the joint Belgian-Dutch Mine Counter Measures (rMCM) program M 840 Vlissingen, September-October 2023 (with) Pradignac & Leo, C. des Déserts and Naval Group
Image of the proposed French version of the BDGM mine-fighting ship of the new generation of the joint Belgian-Dutch Mine Counter Measures (rMCM) program, equipped with a 40-mm Nexter/Thales RapidFire (c) Thales artillery system