This program was awarded in 2019 to Belgium Naval & Robotics, the consortium formed by Naval Group and ECA Group, following an international competition. It provides for the supply to the Belgian Navy and the Royal Netherlands Navy of twelve mine countermeasures vessels and around a hundred drones integrated inside a toolbox that will equip the vessels.
The Commander of the Belgian Navy, Admiral de Beurme, the Director of the Dutch Defense Materiel Organisation, Vice Admiral de Waard, the Belgian Navy’s project leader, Lieutenant Renauld Hock and Pierre Eric Pommellet, Chairman and CEO of Naval Group all answered questions from Naval News during this important milestone for the program.
Ships in both navies will be named after cities. The first-in-class ship for the Belgian Navy (which keel was laid on 30 November) will be known as BNS Oostende. The other ships of the class will be known as follow:
- BNS Tournai
- BNS Brugge
- BNS Liège
- BNS Antwerpen
- BNS Rochefort
Royal Netherlands Navy ships will be known as:
- HNLMS Vlissingen
- HNLMS Scheveningen
- HNLMS Ijmuiden
- HNLMS Harlingen
- HNLMS Delfzijl
- HNLMS Schiedam
