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Le Suffren, French submarine of the industrial Naval Group REUTERS / Benoit Tessier

On December 13, the Netherlands announced that it had selected the French industrialist Naval Group to proceed to the final phase of their replacement of submarines and the possible manufacture of four submarines.

The French industrialist Naval Group will enter a phase of in-depth technical cooperation with the Dutch navy. The class of submarine Barracuda, whose head of series, the Suffren was launched this summer, could therefore know a Dutch declination since the Batavian navy wishes to renew its submarine fleet.

The Barracuda in its classic propulsion version, with electric diesel, has serious advantages to assert: it is fast, enduring and discreet. This is underlined by Admiral Éric Chapelet, marine advisor to the president of Naval Group.

“ The submarine meets the needs of a submarine that can be deployed far enough and that is truly oceanic. It is also called "the great ocean" .

The other advantage of the submersible

The marine advisor to the president of Naval Group also specifies that one of the strong points of their submarines is their acoustic discretion and " in particular at fairly high speeds ".

“ The objective is to give the Netherlands autonomy in the maintenance of the submarine. It will be a Dutch submarine with the capacity of Dutch industry and research to fulfill this function over the 30 to 40 years of the submarine's life, ”recalls Admiral Éric Chapelet.

For this program of 4 submarines, there are only three industrialists in the running: the German TKNS, the Swedish Saab and Naval Group.

Within eighteen months, the Dutch government will choose its partner, for construction to start in 2022.