The Netherlands officially announced the Naval Group as the winner of the new submarine acquisition program for the Dutch Navy. The Dutch Navy will procure four conventionally powered Barracuda (Blacksword) submarines to replace the Walrus ones. According to the statements of the Dutch Deputy Minister of Defence, Naval Group’s offer was judged to be the best compared to the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems German Type-212CD E (Expeditionary)and the consortium of Saab and Damen companies C-718 Expeditionary Submarine, based on Saab’s A-26 submarines.
The displacement of the French Barracuda of the “Suffren” class is 4,765 tons on the surface and 5,300 tons when submerged. They are 99.5 meters long, 8.8 meters wide and 7.3 meters deep. They reach a maximum speed of 25 knots in a dive. They require a crew of 60, and their armament is 24 weapons (SCALP-Naval and SM-39 Block.2 Exocet missiles, F21 torpedoes and mines). The French Navy is building six submarines of this type, with the first (S-635 “Suffren”) having already joined the Fleet. The first two Barracuda Blackswords must be delivered within ten years of the contract signing.
The Dutch Navy’s decision was a disappointment for the Damen shipyard, the “national defense” shipyard of the Netherlands. The wording of the Dutch Ministry of Defense gives the impression that the choice of Naval is “initial”, which implies that there is an important final negotiation which may turn many things upside down.
The Netherlands initially budgeted 2.5 billion Euros, but the final price is not clearly known. The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf wrote that the agreement will be between 4 and 6 billion euros, while Nltimes reports 5.4 billion.
