Future of the Royal Netherlands Navy

Upgrading the De Zeven Provinciën-class LCF frigates Theatre Ballistic Missile Defense, acquisition of SM-3 missiles, a new OtoMelara 127/64 LW canon, ESSM-2 and SLCM integration 2018–2021.

In 2020 it was announced that these intensively used ships will not be replaced as planned around 2025. The Royal Netherlands Navy and the German Navy will cooperate towards a joint platform design to replace both the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate and the Sachsen-class frigate from 2030 onwards.

The two multipurpose M-frigates which are still in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy are reaching the end of their life; they were designed to last until 2018/2023. Because of this the Dutch Ministry of Defence started design studies in 2013. The new frigates are again planned to fulfill a general purpose role with anti-submarine warfare as its specialty. However, since the Netherlands Royal Navy only owns six frigates in total by 2017, the new ships have to be able to perform well in all areas of the spectrum. This means that anti-air equipment also has to be present, in the form of VLS (vertical launch)-cells carrying Standard Missile 2 or ESSM-projectiles. Due to budget cuts, the replacement program was delayed and is now projected to deliver the first ships in 2028-29.

• See Future Surface Combatant for more information.

The two ships in the Rotterdam-class, the Rotterdam and the Johan de Witt have had several Updates. With the midlife update of Johan de Witt planned to take place in 2021-2022. Amongst other things the radars will be updated, with Thales NS100 radar & Thales Scout Mk3 replacing the Thales Variant radar & Kelvin Hughes radar.

• HNLMS Rotterdam is set to be replaced by 2030.[4]
• HNLMS Johan de Witt is set to be replaced by 2032.[5]

Acquisition of new LCU's in 2025 with additional capacity to support amphibious operations and the integration of the German Navy Marines (Seebatallion).

The Netherlands and Belgium are doing a joint procurement for the replacements of the Alkmaar-class MCM ships. Both countries want to procure six new mine countermeasure (MCM) vessels, which makes for a total of 12 MCM ships. The new MCM ships will include a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization ROVs.[6]

• The Franco-Belgium consortium made up of French shipbuilders STX France and Socarenam together with Belgium's EDR are bidding for the 12 new MCM vessels. Their plan includes the construction of MCM vessels named Sea Naval Solutions and a multi-role frigate named Deviceseas, which will serve as mothership to the MCM vessels. All ships will have a strong focus on autonomous systems operations.[7]

• France's Naval Group and ECA Group established Belgian subsidiary Naval & Robotics and bid for the program.[8][9]

• Imtech Belgium and Damen Group bid for the program.[8][9]

The contract was won by Naval Group on 15 March 2019.[10][11]

In November 2014, the Dutch Minister of Defence announced plans to replace the Walrus-class submarines[12] in 2025. By 2017, there was still no political agreement on the quantity or type of new submarines to be ordered; nor the tasks they were expected to perform. However, it seems certain that they will be replaced, since the alleged Russian threat was regarded an incentive to invest in a new class. The Minister of Defence, however, delayed the replacement by two years, until 2027. Roughly, there are two groups in the Dutch parliament – one in favor of replacing the Walrus-class by an equally capable class of large, expeditionary, diesel-electric submarine, and the other in favor of choosing a cheaper solution of smaller diesel-electrics, similar to Swedish and German submarines. It is unknown where the new boats will be built; since the Dutch RDM shipyard (the only Dutch yard capable of building submarines) is no longer in operation. The Defensienota (Defense policy for the coming years) of March 2018 revealed that the Dutch government is still planning to replace the Walrus-class submarines,[13] with an allocated budget of more than 2.5 billion euros for the new submarines. Additional information on how to proceed with the replacement was expected at the end of 2018, when the Dutch Minister of Defence, Ank Bijleveld, was to send a so-called B-letter to the Dutch parliament.[13] Minister Bijleveld also underlined in an interview that the new submarines should have the same niche capabilities as the current Walrus-class submarines: the ability to operate and gather intelligence in both shallow water close to the coast and in deep water in the ocean.[14]

The Ministry of Defence has shortlisted three bidders:[15][16]

• Damen Group and Saab Group announced that they have partnered from 2015 to jointly develop, offer and build next-generation submarines that are able to replace the current Walrus-class submarines.[17] It was announced on 1 June 2018 that their design will be derived from the A26 submarine.[18][19] The proposed submarine is around 73 metres (240 ft) long with a diameter of 8 metres (26 ft). Furthermore, the weight will be around 2900 tonnes, complementing 34 to 42 people. The boat's armament includes 6 torpedo tubes and 1 multi-mission lock which can be used to deploy special forces.[18]
• Naval Group announced that it is offering its newest submarine class, the Barracuda-class, as replacement for the Walrus-class. A version of the "Shortfin" diesel-electric variant Barracuda-class will be offered, rather than the nuclear variant used by the French Navy.[20]
• ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is planning to offer a Type 212CD submarine.[21]

Spain's Navantia's S-80 was not accepted as a contender.