Almost nine years on, the two companies are claiming that their joint bid will deliver a submarine fully optimised to the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) requirements, and at the same time maximise the participation of Dutch industry over the long term.
The C718 design being proposed for the RNLN is a variant of the new C71 design family which itself is an enlarged ‘expeditionary’ derivative of the new-generation A26 Blekinge class submarine being built for the Royal Swedish Navy (RSwN). Compared to its Swedish progenitor, the C718 features a larger hull diameter, increased length, and a displacement of over 3,000 tonnes.
“What we are offering is a modular design based on the latest A26 class.
It is somewhat larger, but we have pulled through a lot of systems and technologies from the parent programme.”
Fredrik Gustafson, vice-president/head of marketing and sales for Saab’s business area Kockums
He continued: “We think it best meets the needs of the [RNLN] but at the same time offers the potential for the maximum involvement of Dutch shipbuilding and supply chains. Our plan, with Damen, is that pressure hull sections would be built in our Karlskrona yard, but that the majority of work on build, assembly, outfitting and setting-to-work will be performed in the Netherlands.”
Sweden’s A26 programme has seen Saab commit significant investment to modernise the production facilities at its Karlskrona shipyard. Furthermore, the company has continued to mature its modular design and build philosophy, claiming that this approach simplifies build, outfit and integration, and reduces risk and cost when adapting the design to meet different requirements (for example, longer range, extended endurance, a larger crew, and/or additional payloads). It is also seen to help ‘futureproof’ the design.
“We want to safeguard and sustain core skills and competencies here in the Netherlands,” said Gustafson. “We are looking to build on Saab’s existing model of export delivery, with Gripen in Brazil and the development of Saab Australia serving as examples. There are a lot of Dutch suppliers who can add value to the overall [submarine] enterprise.”
Saab/Damen have made no official comment on their preferred combat system supplier, other than to say it is a “proven [system] relied upon by major submarine powers”. However, a panel on the Lockheed Martin stand at NEDS strongly suggests that the US company is in the frame for C718:
The Saab/Damen C718 bid has also received support from the UK government. While the two companies will not comment in any detail, this is thought likely to relate to the release of sonar technology drawn from the Sonar 2076 system already in service on Royal Navy submarines.
Another argument deployed by Saab and Damen is that Sweden and the Netherlands share a similar ‘triple helix’ model – the symbiosis between defence, knowledge institutes, and industry – at an enterprise-level. The two companies contend that this cultural convergence would foster the broadest engagement of the customer organisations, user communities, supply chains and academic centres so as to increase opportunities for high-value employment and maximise value to the Dutch taxpayer. Furthermore, Saab and Damen see knowledge transfer enabling Dutch industry assuming responsibilities for through-life maintenance and lifecycle support, and thus sustain national knowledge and industrial capacity over the longer term.
The Saab/Damen team also aspires to jointly pursue export markets, with Canada’s projected Victoria-class replacement programme seen as a key target market. “The generic C71 is a very flexible design,” Gustafson explained. “We would develop knowledge under the parentage of the Netherlands customer, but we are confident that we could then export further variants to other NATO/EU partners.”
Naval News video coverage of the Saab Damen booth at NEDS 2023 (starting with the C71 submarine):
