The “Ostende”, the first mine countermeasure ship of the Belgian-Dutch rMCM program (mine countermeasure replacement program) intended for the Belgian Navy, began its first sea trials campaign in mid-July. The aim is to test the ship’s performance at sea before its delivery in summer 2025. The rMCM program is led by Belgium Naval & Robotics – a consortium formed by Naval Group and Exail – with Kership (a joint venture between Piriou and Naval Group) as industrial prime contractor.
During this first sea trial, the ship’s systems, in particular the propulsion and navigation systems, will be put to the test. This will be followed by further test campaigns to check all other systems. Clémence Picard-Destelan, Naval Group’s on-board manager for this test campaign, explained: “This first test campaign of a production ship is a very important technical and symbolic moment: it is the first time that a ship of this type has set sail.” https://militaeraktuell.at/patria-lokal-produzierter-6×6-lettland/
Seven ships under construction
The “Oostende” was launched on March 29, 2023, followed by the second ship in the series, the “Vlissingen” for the Royal Netherlands Navy, on October 19, 2023 and the “Tournai” on June 24 of this year. The fourth ship in the series, the “Scheveningen”, is due to follow in December. In total, seven of the twelve ships in the series are currently under construction and in various stages of completion. Delivery of the “Ostende” is planned for next summer in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The other ships will then be handed over in stages until the mid-2030s. The rMCM program was launched in 2019. Naval Group is responsible for the ship design, overall integration, testing and commissioning of the mission system. The ships will be built and assembled by Piriou under the industrial project management of Kership. Exail is responsible for the drone mission system. Most of these drones are manufactured and maintained locally in Belgium. https://militaeraktuell.at/raketen-rahmenvertrag-bundeswehr-rheinmetall/
Technical data and equipment
The mine countermeasure ships are more than 80 meters long and have a width of 17 meters. Despite a displacement of 2,800 tons, the ship can reach a top speed of 15.3 knots (around 28 km/h). It offers space for a crew of 63 people and has a range of more than 3,500 nautical miles (around 6,500 kilometers). For the first time, there will be surface drones, underwater drones and aerial drones on board a mine countermeasure ship. Two unmanned Exail Inspector 125 (surface drone), three autonomous A-18 (underwater drone) and two unmanned UMS Skeldar V200 will be part of the ships’ equipment. In addition, a stern crane of 15 tons and an overhead crane of three tons are also installed. The mine countermeasure vessels will deploy a fully robotized system for detecting, classifying, identifying and neutralizing mines. They can withstand underwater explosions and have very low acoustic, electrical and magnetic signatures. In addition, the ships represent a change in mine countermeasures, where the ship, the ship’s command and the mine countermeasures personnel remain at a distance from the danger (stand-off). With this solution, the mined area can be combated ten times faster than with conventional means.
