Naval Group claims that its bid into the Netherlands’ submarine replacement programme seeks to simultaneously address twin objectives of strategic autonomy and expeditionary capability.
This builds on the pedigree of the French Navy’s own nuclear-powered Suffren-class boats, two of which have been delivered to date, and Naval Group’s prior experience of delivering submarine export programmes in partnership with local suppliers.
According to Thierry Petit, Naval Group’s submarines marketing manager, the company’s value proposition also involves a tailored enterprise model that draws on the skills and capabilities extant in the Netherlands’ defence industrial and technical base. “We already have established relationships with a number of companies and technical institutes,” he told Naval News. “We are looking to expand on that, not just for the build phase but for support and operations through the full lifecycle.”
The Barracuda Family variant being offered to The Netherlands benefits from the parentage of the Suffren class nuclear-powered attack submarine:
“It is an exceptionally quiet, ocean-going submarine that has the same ‘Albacore’ [hullform] hydrodynamics of Suffren, and with it a very powerful combat system and sonar suite. We are also proposing a large payload of weapons suited to the Netherlands’ requirement. The big difference, of course, is that the Netherlands does not want a nuclear-powered submarine. So we are offering a shorter, conventionally-powered design solution tailored to meet the Dutch requirement.”
Thierry Petit, Naval Group’s submarines marketing manager
Naval Group has declined at this stage to detail the architecture of the power generation/energy storage solution being offered, but insists it will be based on proven technology to deliver long endurance and ‘wide oceanic range’.
The other pillar of the bid is based around the involvement of the industrial and intellectual ‘ecosystem’ resident in the Netherlands. Naval Group already has extensive experience in transfer of technology and industrial partnerships through submarine export programmes in India and Brazil.
“We are fully committed to developing a full-scale strategic partnership aimed at supporting the Royal Netherlands Navy submarine service, and promoting cooperation with suppliers and knowledge centres in-country,” Petit told Naval News. “Dutch expertise and Dutch knowledge will be essential to maintain the submarine capability through-life.”
Naval Group has previously identified Royal IHC as a key partner for the submarine programme. It has also established relationships with other actors – such as RH Marine, Thales Nederland, OPTICS11, MARIN and TNO – through programmes such as the Belgium/Netherlands replacement Mine Countermeasures (MCM) project and the MIRACLE future MCM programme. This drive to build closer industrial engagement and cooperation across Europe has been described as a ‘common sovereignty’ approach In terms of build strategy,
Naval Group is understood to be proposing two options. The baseline offer assumes construction being focused on the company’s submarine building facility in Cherbourg, northwest France; the second option envisages the production, outfit and integration of submarine modules in The Netherlands (Royal IHC and Naval Group have worked together to develop an understanding of how this could be achieved).
Naval News video coverage of the Naval Group booth at NEDS 2023 (sponsored content):
