The Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) and Belgian Navy (Marinecomponent/Composante marine) will replace their current M-frigates (Karel Doorman-class), the Dutch MoD confirmed today in an official statement. The future frigates’ main task will be anti-submarine warfare (ASW) thanks to a new type of torpedo and their embarked NH90 NFH maritime helicopter.
The construction of the Future Surface Combatant for the navies of the Netherlands (Koninklijke Marine) and Belgium (Belgian Naval Component) could face a further delay according to local media. The two parties don't seem to agree on some of the specifications of the so-called M-Frigate replacement.
The Belgian Navy’s future research vessel Belgica was launched on 11 February 2020 at the Freire Shipyard in Vigo, Spain. The delivery of the ship in Zeebrugge, Belgium, is scheduled for the last quarter of this year.
ECA Group, an expert in robotics, automated systems, simulation and industrial processes, will build its new plant in the port of Ostend in order to carry out the contract to supply their unmanned systems for the 12 minesweepers of the Belgian and Dutch navies.
The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) will receive new uniforms from the end of 2020 under the Defense Operational Clothing System (DOCS) project, the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced on December 19.
The Belgian Navy plans to deploy the Léopold 1er (F930) frigate within the French carrier strike group, the 2020 operational plan of the Belgian Defense Ministry reveals.
Dutch State Secretary Barbara Visser, Belgian defense minister Didier Reynders and French companies Naval Group and ECA Robotics signed the contract for 12 next generation MCM vessels and their equipment in Brussels, on July 5, 2019.
Together with seven other countries, Belgium signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the NATO Maritime Battle Decisive Munitions (MBDM) program in order to achieve the same objective in the maritime field, the Belgian Defense Directorate General Material Resources (DGMR) announced today.
ECA Group has been supplying the Belgian Navy for almost 40 years, through the delivery of PAP mine neutralization autonomous unmanned vehicles (AUV) operated from Tripartite-class MCM vessels. Today, ECA Group, via its ECA Robotics subsidiary, is set to provide the Belgian and Dutch Navies with a truly innovative suite of autonomous systems under a 450M€ contract.
The Belgian Ministry of Defense today officially contracted the consortium Belgian Naval & Robotics (formed by Naval Group & ECA Group) to supply 12 vessels and associated equipment to the Belgian and Dutch Navies.
