Dutch submarine buy from France to spark $1.1 billion in offsets

PARIS — The Netherlands secured spending of about €1 billion ($1.1 billion) on Dutch companies as part of its multibillion-euro purchase of four attack submarines from France’s Naval Group, the Dutch Ministry of Defence said.

Dutch State Secretary of Defence Gijs Tuinman and Naval Group CEO Pierre Eric Pommellet signed the contract for four submarines at the Royal Netherlands Navy home port of Den Helder on Monday, the ministry said in a statement.

That follows a memorandum of understanding between the Dutch and French governments on knowledge sharing and user rights, and an industrial cooperation deal that foresees around €1 billion in spending with Dutch companies as well as continued involvement of Dutch research institutes. Naval Group is 62% held by the French government, with French defense firm Thales owning 35% of the shipbuilder.

The Netherlands in March disclosed a budget of €5.65 billion to replace its aging Walrus-class submarines, including a delta to operate the future vessels over their 30-year lifespan as well as a project-risk reserve. Naval Group is set to deliver the first two of the four submarines by 2034, with the new vessel a conventionally-powered variant of its Barracuda class.

“We are going for state-of-the-art submarines that serve the Dutch security interests and those of NATO and Europe to the maximum,” Tuinman said in a post on X , formerly Twitter. He said the new submarines will allow the Netherlands “to show our teeth and if necessary, bite hard.”

Dutch involvement in the new submarines will include hydraulic systems, air-conditioning systems, acoustic cladding, detection devices, sonar, composite structures and water-making equipment, according to Tuinman. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs didn’t immediately respond to phone calls and text messages regarding the details of the offset agreement.

The submarines are a strategic capacity and will be equipped for intelligence gathering, as well as cruise missiles, the state secretary said. Tuinman said the Netherlands is investing in its underwater capacity because “credible deterrence” is the best defense, and war is prevented by preparing for the possibility of conflict.

The Netherlands plans to equip the new subs with Tomahawk cruise missiles for a land-strike capacity, something the current Walrus class lacks, in addition to torpedoes.

The deal is a “major step” for the naval cooperation between France and the Netherlands, French Ambassador to the Netherlands François Alabrune said in a post on X .

The Netherlands had requested proposals in November 2022 from Naval Group, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Sweden’s Saab Kockums in cooperation with Dutch shipbuilder Damen.

France operates a nuclear-powered version of the Barracuda class, and in 2020 the country estimated the cost of the program to build and operate six submarines in the class at €10.4 billion, up from €8.6 billion in 2010.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——荷兰国防部表示，作为从法国海军集团购买四艘攻击型潜艇（总价值数十亿欧元）的一部分，荷兰已确保向荷兰公司支付约 10 亿欧元（11 亿美元）。

荷兰国防部在一份声明中表示，荷兰国防部国务秘书吉斯·图因曼和海军集团首席执行官皮埃尔·埃里克·波梅莱于周一在荷兰皇家海军母港登海尔德签署了四艘潜艇的合同。

此前，荷兰和法国政府签署了一份关于知识共享和用户权利的谅解备忘录，以及一项预计将向荷兰公司投资约10亿欧元的产业合作协议，荷兰研究机构也将继续参与其中。法国政府持有法国海军集团62%的股份，法国国防企业泰雷兹持有该造船厂35%的股份。

荷兰在3月份公​​布了一项56.5亿欧元的预算，用于替换其老旧的“海象”级潜艇，其中包括未来潜艇30年使用寿命期间的运营预算以及项目风险储备。法国海军集团计划在2034年前交付四艘潜艇中的前两艘，新潜艇是其“梭鱼”级潜艇的常规动力版本。

图伊曼在X（前身为Twitter）上发帖称：“我们正在建造最先进的潜艇，以最大限度地服务于荷兰、北约和欧洲的安全利益。” 他表示，新型潜艇将使荷兰“展现我们的实力，并在必要时采取强硬措施”。

据图因曼称，荷兰将参与新型潜艇的建造，包括提供液压系统、空调系统、声学包层、探测设备、声呐、复合材料结构和造水设备。荷兰经济事务部尚未回复有关抵消协议细节的电话和短信询问。

国务秘书表示，这些潜艇是战略力量，将配备情报收集设备和巡航导弹。图伊曼说，荷兰之所以投资水下作战能力，是因为“可信的威慑”是最好的防御，而预防战争的关键在于未雨绸缪。

荷兰计划为新型潜艇配备战斧巡航导弹，使其具备对陆打击能力，这是目前海象级潜艇所缺乏的，此外还将配备鱼雷。

法国驻荷兰大使弗朗索瓦·阿拉布鲁内 (François Alabrune) 在 X 网站上发帖称，这项协议是法国和荷兰海军合作的“重大一步”。

荷兰于 2022 年 11 月向法国海军集团、德国蒂森克虏伯海事系统公司和瑞典萨博科库姆公司发出邀请，与荷兰造船商达门合作，提交方案。

法国拥有核动力版的梭鱼级潜艇，2020 年，法国估计建造和运营该级六艘潜艇的计划成本为 104 亿欧元，高于 2010 年的 86 亿欧元。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。