Damen Naval has chosen Kongsberg Maritime Sweden to ship controllable pitch propellers and shaft traces for the 4 Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) frigates for the Netherlands and Belgium.
As a part of this contract, Kongsberg will provide 4 shipsets of its controllable pitch propeller techniques and related gear together with blades, hubcaps, hubs, and shaft traces.
The 4 ASW frigates will substitute the present Karel Doorman-class multi-purpose frigates. They will probably be deployed for all kinds of duties, with anti-submarine warfare as their principal goal. The ships can have hybrid diesel-electric propulsion and will probably be designed to function as quietly as doable.
This is the second collaboration between Damen Naval and Kongsberg Maritime up to now 18 months. It follows an analogous contract signed by the businesses in September 2022 for the German Navy’s F126 frigates.
“It is great news to have Kongsberg Maritime involved in the ASW- frigate project as well. We have a long-standing relationship with the company, and it is a good example of the excellent co-operation that exists between the Dutch and Swedish naval shipbuilding industries,” stated Richard Keulen, Damen Naval’s Director Corporate Strategy and Innovation.
“The propulsion system for the new frigates has been optimized to match the customers’ strict mission requirements, particularly for noise signature, which is a crucial factor in anti-submarine warfare operations,” added Björn ten Eicken, Kongsberg Maritime’s Vice President – Naval.
The ASW-frigate mission is being carried out in shut cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Defense, with among the work to be carried out by the ministry itself. The hulls will probably be inbuilt Romania after which shipped to Vlissingen for additional completion.
Damen Naval is anticipated to ship the primary ship in 2028.
