The Netherlands secured spending of about €1 billion ($1.1 billion) on Dutch companies as part of its purchase of four attack submarines from France’s Naval Group. Dutch State Secretary of Defence Gijs Tuinman and Naval Group CEO Pierre Eric Pommellet signed the contract at the Royal Netherlands Navy home port of Den Helder on Monday. This agreement follows a memorandum of understanding between the Dutch and French governments on knowledge sharing and user rights, with an industrial cooperation deal that foresees around €1 billion in spending with Dutch companies. Naval Group is set to deliver the first two submarines by 2034, with the new vessels being a conventionally-powered variant of its Barracuda class.
The Netherlands disclosed a budget of €5.65 billion in March to replace its aging Walrus-class submarines. The new submarines will be equipped for intelligence gathering and equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles for a land-strike capacity. The deal is seen as a major step for naval cooperation between France and the Netherlands. France operates a nuclear-powered version of the Barracuda class submarines, with the program estimated to cost €10.4 billion in 2020.
