Testing will be conducted in conjunction with Oostende, the first of 12 new MCM mother ships being built for the Belgian Naval Component and the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN). Belgian naval personnel commenced training in early September this year.
Belgium Naval & Robotics was in May 2019 contracted by Belgian Defence – acting on behalf of both nations – for the delivery of the next generation BE/NL rMCM capability based on steel-hulled mother ships employing a suite of offboard MCM systems so as to keep personnel outside the mine danger area. The 10-year contract, valued at almost EUR2 billion, covers the supply of six 82.6 m long, 2,800-ton displacement mother ship vessels to each navy, plus ten MCM toolboxes based on unmanned/autonomous systems drawn from Exail’s own UMIS offboard MCM suite, and a training system.
Naval Group, as overall architect and prime contractor, is responsible for the design of the ships, overall integration, testing and commissioning of the mission system. Exail is taking responsibility for the delivery of the unmanned vehicles and associated payloads, with most systems to be manufactured at a new factory in Ostend, Belgium. Production activities are already underway, with Exail working to grow the current 90-strong workforce up to 120. Offboard systems will be controlled through Exail’s UMISOFT mission management system, which integrates into the mother ship’s SETIS combat management system via Naval Group’s SMMD (système de mission multi-drones) autonomy interface.
Maintenance of the ships will be carried out in Belgium as part of a close collaboration between the Belgian Naval Component and Naval Group Belgium, with the assistance of its partner Flanders Ship Repair in Zeebrugge.
All 12 mother ships are being built by Kership – a joint venture between Naval Group and Piriou – at the Piriou shipyard in Concarneau, Brittany. First-of-class Oostende, which is destined for Belgium, undertook a first set of sea trials in July 2024 to test its propulsion and navigation systems: the ship is currently alongside in Concarneau to continue final outfitting and setting-to-work.
Delivery of Oostende is scheduled for mid-2025 in Zeebrugge. Follow-on ships will be delivered to the two navies through to mid-2030.
Vlissingen, the second ship of the class and the first for the RNLN, was launched in October 2023, with Tournai – the second ship for Belgium – following in June 2024. Both ships are continuing outfitting alongside in Concarneau. The fourth ship, Scheveningen, is due to be launched in December 2024.
Each toolbox will comprise two Inspector 125M unmanned surface vessels (USVs); three A-18 medium autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with UMISAS 120 sonars; two T-18 towed sonars configured with the UMISAS 240 sonar; Seascan mine identification vehicles (x 4) and K-Ster C mine neutralisers (x 40); two unmanned air vehicles (UMS Skeldar V-200); and a single influence mine sweeping system (integrating five CTM magnetic modules and one Patria acoustic module). Sweep missions use the modified Inspector 125S USV (which uses propellers rather than waterjets to increase the tow force).
As well as ship deployment, the BE/NL rMCM requirement also specified the supply of a portable, containerised toolbox – hosting command and control, communications and a suite of offboard vehicles – to each navy to enable rapid deployment to a shore site. This will be capable of being transported by air, or being truck-mounted for road haulage.
According to Daniel Scourzic, Exail’s MCM and Deep Water product line director, factory acceptance of the first batch of drones will occur in this month [November]. “That will be followed by operational qualifications of the drones, and trials from the Naval Group mother ship [Oostende] in Q1/Q2 next year.
“Delivery of the first set of drones in the containerised version will occur in Q3 of 2025.”
Daniel Scourzic, Exail’s MCM and Deep Water Product Line Director
USV launch and recovery has been identified as a key design consideration for the rMCM capability, with a threshold requirement set for operations up to and including Sea State 4. Each mother ship is configured with two launch and recovery systems (LARS) – installed port and starboard slightly aft of midships, close to the ship’s centre of gravity – for the deployment and recovery of the Inspector 125M or 125S USVs. The LARS assembly consists of two automated arms that deploy and recover a floating dock ‘cradle’ over the side.
The mother ship design also features a 15-tonne crane on the aft deck which can be used for AUV deployment. A 3-tonne overhead crane is fitted inside the mission bay hangar.
Check out our video coverage of the rMCM program with Naval Group during the Euronaval 2024 press trip:
