Belgians and Dutch rename future ASW frigate programme
The Belgian and Dutch navies will each receive two Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates, which will enter service by 2030.
The future Joint Future Surface Combatant for the Belgian Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy has officially been renamed as the Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate (ASWF).
Each navy will receive two ASWFs to replace their Karel Doorman-class frigates. Discussions are under way with Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding and Thales on vessel and equipment specifications.
The frigate replacement programme is being run by Dutch procurement agency DMO in concert with its Belgian counterpart DGMR. They envisage that all four vessels will be in service by 2030, but Shephard Defence Insight notes that limited budgets in both countries translated into sluggish progress on the programme.
Belgium has approved funding of €1 billion ($1.2 billion) for its pair of ships, while the Netherlands is expected to spend about €1.5 billion.
No names have been assigned to the four new vessels, the Belgian MoD noted on 13 January.
The four ASW frigates will include technology for information warfare, ‘the latest anti-submarine warfare techniques and robust self-defence against surface threats’, the MoD added. ‘There is also extensive automation in order to be able to conduct operations with a limited basic crew’.
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