Expeditionary Submarine concept for the Netherlands. Photo, Saab.
With the expressed support of the United Kingdom and Sweden, Saab has confirmed the submission to the Dutch government and Ministry of Defense of its proposal for the replacement of the current Walrus-class submarines of the Royal Netherlands Navy.. This was confirmed by the company of Swedish origin yesterday, July 28.
It is not a novelty that the need to renew its Submarine Fleet maintained by the Netherlands. The project, started at the beginning of the last decade, has been delayed due to the lack of decision to firmly advance in the program that aims to replace the current four Walrus-class submarines of the Royal Netherlands Navy, which accumulate in average three decades old.
This situation generated that during the past year the Dutch Ministry of Defense confirmed that the units of the class, to a greater and lesser extent, would continue in service until 2030while seeking to move forward with the acquisition of a replacement.
In view of these requirements, on July 28, Saab, with the support of the UK and Swedish governments, made public the presentation of its proposal for the renewal of the Dutch submarine weapon. Including the association with the local shipyards of the Damen Shipyards Group for the manufacture of four new expeditionary submarines based on the new A26 class, receiving the provisional designation of “C718”.
Through its official statement, Saab said that: “The C718 is an advanced expeditionary submarine that offers an unsurpassed level of endurance and exceeds the needs of the Royal Netherlands Navy for long-distance operations, sufficient accommodation, crew comfort, and increased weapons payload capacity.”
Adding, with regard to the projected future capabilities of the new submarines, that: “As part of the proposal, Saab offers a proven and integrated weapon delivery system and one of the best sensor systems in the world. Saab’s innovative design features unique solutions to minimize detection by active sonars, all combined into an extremely capable and undetectable submarine.”.
However, the long process of receiving and selecting a proposal for future submarines in the Netherlands does not only have Saab as a bidder. But other companies have also submitted their proposals since 2015. Being the case, in those years, of Navantia (S-80), Naval Group (Barracuda), and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (Type 212). However, Navantia was left out of the program in 2019, since the government of the Netherlands did not consider its proposal attractive.