Naval Group has just won a call for tenders like it only gets every ten years. The Dutch government announced on Friday March 15 the choice of the French group for the construction of four “Barracuda” type submarines with diesel-electric propulsion. It beats the Dutch-Swedish consortium Damen-Saab and the German Tyssenkrupp Marine Systems. The Hague launched the call for tenders in 2017 for an investment estimated at more than 2.5 billion euros in 2019, which should ultimately be between 4 billion and 6 billion, according to the daily De Telegraaf.
“After a careful quotation process, Naval Group will build the new submarines”, declared the Secretary of State for Defense, Christophe van der Maat, from Helder (northwest of the Netherlands), where the largest base of the Dutch navy is located. The group has, according to him, “proposed a balanced, versatile and realistic offer”which includes a significant contribution from local industry, “an important condition in the award process”. It now remains to negotiate the terms of the contract for its submarines built in Cherbourg (Manche).
The “Barracuda” is an ocean-going submarine – “at the highest global standard”, according to the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu –, designed to sail very far from its bases. The 3,000 ton version desired by The Hague is lighter than the French Navy’s nuclear attack submarine (SNA) (4,500 tons), including the first example, the Suffren, has been operational since June 2022. It will be able to launch the same American MarK 48 torpedoes as the Walrus, the first of which has just been withdrawn from service so that its parts can be used for the maintenance of the three others. The first two copies must be delivered between 2034 and 2037.
Strengthened cooperation in 2023
After the launch of the last of the four Walrus in 1993, the Netherlands gave up building submarines to concentrate on surface ships. They launched a reflection in 2015, then a call for tenders in 2017. The same year, Naval Group created a subsidiary in the country to strengthen collaborations dating back to the mid-1970s. Naval Group Netherlands has established “long-term strategic partnerships with the maritime sector”. It joined forces with local manufacturers and the Royal IHC shipyard.
Around fifty companies have supplied more than 250 million euros worth of equipment and services to Naval Group, such as hydrodynamic tests on boat hulls. This makes the Dutch defense industrial and technological base one of the first partners of the French group, and which has contributed to its success. The contract will strengthen these partnerships.
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