Dutch sidekicks

[Cjc]

Dutch Navy to buy armed sidekick ships for its air-defense frigates

Dutch shipyard Damen will build the vessels, with Israel Aerospace Industries supplying interceptors, drones and electronic-warfare equipment.

www.defensenews.com

This really feels like a mini arsenal ship concept, wouldn't be surprised if they try to get this ship to be completely unmanned ( they are already mostly there with a crew of 8 as is).

 

[Hobbes]

The article refers to the letter sent by the Dutch MOD (Word doc) to the government, which describes the proposal in more detail.

These are the requirements that drove the purchase of the two multifunctional support vessels:
1. improvement of the Navy's air defence capabilites in high-intensity conflict.
2. improvement of the Navy's firepower against ground targets, for Marines amphibious operations
3. improve the Navy's capability in protecting national assets in the North Sea.

In-service date is set for 2027.

For requirements 1 and 2, the RNLN also needs improved electronic warfare capability, new ECM systems will be purchased for two LC IAI is the supplier.

For requirement 1, more firepower is needed to deal with saturation attacks from ASMs and drones. The current magazine capacity of the LCFs is insufficient.
Also, the SM-2 Block 3A currently carried by the LCF as its main air defence waponis out of production, and its replacement (SM-2 Block IIICU) is not compatible with the LCF fire control system. Barak ER is going to replace the SM-2 once SM-2 stocks are depleted.
The APAR radar on the LCF will be used to guide the Barak ER. The Barak launchers will be containerized.
All 4 LCF will be modified to operate with the support vessels.

For requirement 2, the RNLN has to deal with opponents in coastal areas that use advanced sensors and long-range weapons. This changes how landings are done: the LPDs have to be farther out to sea.
The RNLN is looking at purchasing new Amphibious Transport ships optimized for this role.
To defeat the land-based threats, the support vessels will carry a long-range loitering missile (IAI Harop) that can be guided by troops on the ground. This will fill the gap between the 127mm guns on the LCF (which can fire projectiles to 100 km) and the Tomahawks.
This weapon will be containerized, so it can be deployed from the Amphibious Transport ships as well.

For requirement 3, Russia has been mapping and investigating NL assets in the North sea (oil rigs, wind parks and their infrastructure).
The support vessels will be equipped with 'underwater equipment' and sensors to track and monitor potential threats.
Satellite monitoring will also be used, an increase in monitoring capacity is also part of the project. Underwater drones will also be purchased.

The vessels are described as 'militarized', which to me indicates they're going to use modified commercial vessels:
later on the letter says 'military off the shelf', so they're buying a predesigned military vessel, not a commercial vessel.

Some related projects are mentioned at the end of the letter:
- integrating ESSM Block 2 on two of the LCF. The other two LCF will retain their Block 1 missiles.
- installing new ESM systems on four LCF.
- Precision guided rockets for the Marines and Air Mobile Brigade.
- the RNLN port at Den Helder has to be expanded to accommodate the new ships.

 

[Hobbes]

Artist impression from the RNLN site:




Looking at Damen's portfolio, this seems to be based on their fast crew supply vessels. The FCS 5009 Patrol is the closest match.
53 m long, 325 t displacement, 27 kn max speed.

 

[Grey Havoc]

They may also additionally be intended to be a platform for the Atlas Elektronik SeaSpider hard-kill anti-torpedo system. Assuming that the Dutch ever get around to procuring it, that is.

Some relevant excerpts from the linked article:

Germany’s navy has been toying with a product called SeaSpider, developed by Atlas Elektronik, for several years. Work on the sole technology option under consideration in Europe goes back even further, with engineers studying it for at least 15 years, according to the firm’s website.

But while Atlas has tried to market the system as ready for combat, no navy has yet taken the bait, and the Dutch Ministry of Defence has repeatedly pushed back the start of a formal purchasing program based on SeaSpider.

SeaSpider can intercept all types of torpedoes, combining data from sensors installed on the carrier ship and the interceptor torpedo to compute collision paths with the inbound weapon, the manufacturer promises on its website.

The package has been in play again since last year for further development under the auspices of a European Union program, led by Germany and the Netherlands, labeled simply “Anti-torpedo Torpedo,” or ATT.

A one-sentence description for the project on an EU website describes a desire for “bringing a developed anti-torpedo torpedo demonstrator to the production-ready design, with a qualified effector and a proven functional chain,” an apparent reference to the Atlas product that only the Dutch Ministry of Defence would confirm to Defense News.

A spokesperson there said the SeaSpider technology is still too immature to warrant setting up a formal program, though Dutch defense officials have planned to take such a step, which requires parliamentary notification, since 2022. If it all comes to pass, perhaps in 2025, budget analysts have slotted a torpedo-killing torpedo capability into a category of programs consuming anywhere between €250 million and €1 billion, according to the Dutch MOD.

That is in addition to a related effort, led by TNO and estimated at €50 million to €100 million, to sharpen the technology for torpedo detection that would go into an eventual anti-torpedo torpedo suite, a spokesperson told Defense News.

Notably, the German MOD declined to disclose even the industry team of Atlas and TNO as lead companies of the European Union program, set up under the bloc’s defense-cooperation push known as PESCO. A spokeswoman in Berlin said no contracts had been signed in the matter.

In the end, the timing of a European anti-torpedo torpedo program could line up with Dutch Navy plans for new anti-submarine warfare frigates, the first of which is expected to become operational in 2029. That is because German officials expect the PESCO program to yield a production-ready system that passes all regulatory requirements by the end of the decade, with a prototype built in 2028.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Netherlands firms up plans for multifunction support vessels - Naval News

The Royal Netherlands Navy is set to receive two low-cost, low-manned multifunction support vessels (‘Multifunctionele ondersteuningsvaartuigen’)

www.navalnews.com

 

[MihoshiK]

There's an interview with Admiral René Tas at Marineschepen.nl (the site integrates google translate, so give the article a look), in which it's also mentioned the sidekicks, or MSS (Multifunctional Support Ship), will be around 80 meters long.

That's... Pretty substantial for a low and maybe later unmanned ship. It also makes it more likely that these will be bespoke designs rather than the civilian ships with a few missile containers on the cargo deck as we've seen so far.