The Netherlands and Belgium are doing a joint procurement for the replacements of the Tripartite-class/''Alkmaar''-class

minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destroys individual naval mines. Minesweepers, on the other hand, clear mined areas as a whole, without prior detection of mines. A vessel that combines both of these roles is known as a ...

s. 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

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

s and mine identification and neutralization ROVs.

Design and development

In the spring of 2018, the Belgian and Dutch Navy signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the joint construction and financing of the ships. A list of requirements was drawn up for the new vessels. Contenders in the race were: * The Franco-Belgium consortium made up of French shipbuilders STX France and

Socarenam Socarenam (french: SOCARENAM, acronym: ''Société Calaisienne de Réparation Navale et Mécanique'') is a French employee-owned shipbuilding company that operates shipyards in multiple ports in northern and western of the country. History Soc ...

together with Belgium's EDR are bidding for the 12 new MCM vessels. Their plan includes the construction of MCM vessels named Sea Naval Solutions and a multi-role frigate named Deviceseas, which will serve as mothership to the MCM vessels. All ships will have a strong focus on autonomous systems operations. * France's

Naval Group Naval Group is a major French industrial group specialized in naval defense design, development and construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards initiated in 1631 by Cardinal Richelieu and to the Direc ...

and established Belgian subsidiary Naval & Robotics and bid for the program. * Imtech Belgium and

Damen Group The Damen Group is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, Netherlands. Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company. Dame ...

bid for the program. The contract was won by Naval Group on 15 March 2019. The new vessels take a new approach to their task. Instead of fighting mines from a ship, the ships does this with unmanned systems.

Construction

A first steel cutting ceremony for the first-in-class ship for the Belgian Navy was held on 19 July 2021, with the keel being laid on 30 November, 2021. Delivery of the first ship to the Belgian Navy is anticipated in 2024 and to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 2025. The first ship for the Dutch Navy started on the 4 March, 2022, with a steel cutting ceremony. The keel was laid on 14 June, 2022.

Ships in class

Belgium

Belgium gave the green-light to start the procurement on 26 January 2018 and approved a budget of 1.1 billion euros for the six Belgian MCM ships. Besides the Tripartite-class minehunters, the ships will also replace the Belgian logistical support ship .

Netherlands

Potential operators

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

- At Euronaval 2022 a partnership was signed between the Belgian, Dutch and French navies to enhance cooperation between them. As a result the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

will order six variant ships based on the ''City-class'', via their SLAM-F program in 2023.

References

{{City-class mine countermeasures vessel Mine warfare vessel classes