Relief and satisfaction in the Naval Group. After seven years of negotiations followed by six months of uncertainty, the CEO of the French group, Pierre Eric Pommellet, and the Dutch Secretary of State for Defense, Gijs Tuinman, signed, on Monday, September 30, the delivery contract to the Baja countries. four Barracuda submarines for about 5,000 million euros. They will replace the Walrus-class ships, which will be retired from service over the next decade.
In this program, the Naval Group, an ally of the Dutch Royal IHC, won a tough battle against the Swedish Saab Kockums, associated with the local manufacturer Damen and, especially, the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), a historical competitor of the French group. The Kiel group’s appeal, rejected in July, was of no use. No more so than the change of government in The Hague, which cast uncertainty on the contract.
“Naval Group has extensive experience in submarine construction and the Dutch maritime industry has unique and specialized knowledge”Mr. Tuinman said. These Barracudas with diesel-electric propulsion will be built in Cherbourg (La Mancha), in the same place as the nuclear version destined for the French navy; but many key components will be manufactured in the Netherlands as part of a twenty-year partnership with local manufacturers and scientific institutes. A requirement of the Dutch to maintain both industrial expertise and “strategic autonomy” during the life cycle of submarines.
melting ice
The choice of a 3,000-ton “expeditionary” ship says a lot about the Netherlands’ ambitions. Very silent, carrying powerful and versatile weapons (attack, detection, intelligence, mine clearance, etc.), the Barracuda can be deployed in all the world’s oceans and for long periods, features absent from the Walrus. TotalEnergies subsidiary Saft’s innovative lithium-ion battery technology, which allows you to stay underwater for longer, and the ability to fire American Tomahawk missiles, appear to have made the difference.
For its part, Canada has just launched a major call for tenders to “a maximum” of twelve conventionally powered submarines capable of sailing under the ice floe. NATO member country with the longest coastline in the world, wants to go beyond the simple replacement of its buildings acquired from the United Kingdom in the late 1990s. The geostrategic context pushes it: the melting of the ice marks the polar routes . strategic at a military and commercial level, at a time when Russia and China are strengthening themselves in the Arctic zone.
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