Belgian-Dutch Minehunter Program passes Functional Review

The Belgian-Dutch minehunter procurement program has achieved the System Functional Review (SFR) milestone on May 23, the Belgium Naval and Robotics announced. The minehunter program provides for the supply of twelve mine-fighting vessels equipped with UAV systems (Toolbox) to the Belgian and Dutch navy.

Under the pressure of the Covid-19 health crisis, the Belgium Naval & Robotics teams have reached a new milestone within the framework of the mine warfare program, which provides for the delivery of 12 mine hunters equipped with their toolbox.

The “Systems Functional Review”, validates the functional and architectural studies of all the systems of mine action ships developed by Naval Group such as computer networks, electrical installations, propulsion or combat systems, as well as those of all drones developed by ECA Group, key elements of the ships. This review also focused on the systems of systems that provide mission management, communications and cybersecurity, as well as on the integration of drone systems on the ship.

The twelve ships will be equipped with a total of a hundred drones managed in a pool called Toolbox, shared by the two navies and supplied by ECA Group. The configuration of the Toolbox used onboard each ship or deployed from the shore, will vary depending on the typology of the missions. It will consist of surface drones USV INSPECTOR125, underwater drones AUV A18M and towed sonars T18 for mine detection and the MIDS system (Mine Identification and Disposal System) for mine identification and neutralization.

In charge of the preliminary design of the ships, Naval Group works in close collaboration with Kership who will carry out the detailed design of the ships and their construction. Kership’s activities will start after crossing the Preliminary Design Review milestone, which is scheduled for December 2020.

The contract for twelve minehunters for the Belgian and Dutch navies will span over ten years. After a design period of three years, Belgium Naval & Robotics will move on to the production phase of these ships and drone systems, with an initial delivery scheduled for 2024. Six ships will be delivered to the Belgian navy and six to the Dutch navy; they will be equipped with a complete drones system (Toolbox) containing a total of more than a hundred underwater, surface and aerial drones entirely dedicated to mine hunting.

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