This partnership is an important step in building an excellent group of companies with the best capabilities to design and build the new submarines while sustaining and further developing the Dutch maritime cluster and submarine capability for the coming decades.
Naval Group is a leading international submarine expert with a proven track record in building submarines through industrial cooperation with local experts, for example in Australia, Brazil or India. IHC is a worldwide operating integrator of complex vessels and systems with a long-standing experience in delivering highly capable complex vessels with integrated equipment. With this partnership, the two industrial players combine their complementary expertise to propose the best solution to the Royal Netherlands Navy. Naval Group would define the submarine design with the Dutch authorities, while Royal IHC would be appointed to perform the construction and outfitting of the end product leveraging the Dutch maritime sector.
This agreement is fully in line with Naval Group’s vision of industrial cooperation and at the same time fully matches the objective of the Defence Industry Strategy that has been recently published by the MOD. Furthermore, it is designed as a stepping stone to allow maximum involvement of the Dutch maritime cluster.
“Naval Group aims for a long-term presence in the Netherlands and has built a robust network of over seventy Dutch industrial partners. We have been engaging actively with the Dutch industry and knowledge centers for over a year and a half and have reinforced our local footprint with several important milestones such as the creation of Naval Group subsidiary in the Netherlands. Today, we are joining our strengths together with Royal IHC to support the Netherlands MOD getting the most capable submarine responding to the specific needs of a first-rank NATO partner.”
Hervé Guillou, Naval Group Chief Executive Officer
”Royal IHC is pleased to partner with Naval Group not only due to its extensive track record in building submarines, but also given the values our companies share; we are committed, reliable, can offer the best value product and we are extremely well placed to include a strong Dutch content base. Having these shared values as part of our DNA, we are confident that together we are able to offer the best solution for the Netherlands Submarine Replacement programme.”
Dave Vander Heyde, CEO of Royal IHC
“Forming this core industrial partnership is part of our long-term commitment to the Netherlands. Our partnership’s main focus is to offer the best technical and cost effective solution to the Netherlands. The industrial cooperation programme contemplated by Naval Group is expected to support the overall Dutch economy for the next decades. Our ambition is to use, enhance and preserve a comprehensive submarine knowledge basis in the Netherlands”.
Mark van Rooij, Naval Group Netherlands Chief Executive Officer
Over the next months, Naval Group and Royal IHC will reinforce their partnership with the review of building sites in the Netherlands and by engaging in an ongoing dialogue with Dutch industry partners.
