Originally published on November 28, 2019
The director of press relations for the Naval group company, Mr. Emmanuel Gaudez, announcement on Twitter that the company unveils its industrial strategy at the NEDS defense exhibition in Rotterdam. The significant element of the announcement lies in the computer-generated image that accompanies it: the submarine proposed to the Dutch navy. The French company is doing the same thing as the SEA 1000 program (Australia): the hull is entirely covered with anechoic tiles, a technology that none of the competitors can offer. Is Naval Group going all out to win this market?
Dutch Walrus-class submarines (Zr. Ms. Walrus (1992), Zr. Mrs. Zeeleeuw (1990), Zr. Mrs. Dolphin (1993) and Zr. Mrs. Bruinvis (1994) will have to leave service between 2027 and 2031 thanks to a mid-life overhaul carried out in 2013 and 2019. From 2014, the principle of replacing Walrus is recorded. THE White Paper 2018 in the second appendix (p. 24) explains this choice. Appendix 4 presents the schedule for renewal of Walrus (2,5 billion euros or more). A request for information was sent to the main submarine manufacturers in 2018. The choice of the bidder with whom exclusive negotiations will be conducted could be announced at the end of 2019.
The French proposal publicly unveiled at the beginning of February 2019 is not a Scorpèneand an Scorpene Evolution of nearly 3000 tonnes was however expected in order to meet the military need expressed by the Batavian navy. This first illustration shows what will turn out to be an additional version of the Barracuda. With the difference that the mass is not the same because the front diving bars which are retractable and in front of the mass on the Barracuda Australian and French are on this version integrated into the upper part of the massif.
The “hit” of the program BE 1000 consisted of proposing a technology that no other competitor could provide: the propeller pump (pump-jet). The thruster is no longer a simple propeller with more or less elaborate shapes. This is a fairing containing a stator used to set the sea water in motion before it is “attacked” by the propeller itself, here described as rotor. The complete system reduces noise caused by cavitation (air bubble forming on the propeller blades and exploding). This system is the best in the state of the art at the moment in order to reduce the noise generated by the thruster itself.
And the only two illustrations communicated by Naval group for its offer in the Netherlands are careful not to offer an overview of the propellant, while leaving doubt as it is a Barracuda. Will it be offered with a propeller or a propeller pump?
The synthetic image communicated today presents, without a shadow of a doubt, a coating in anechoic tiles over the entire hull: from the top of the massif to the keel, from the bow to the steering gear.
This technology is made up of “tiles” whose base materials are rubber or synthetic polymers. Their function is to absorb the acoustic waves of active sonars (emissions of acoustic waves, similar to the operation of a radar) which are particularly used by anti-submarine warfare vessels and helicopters equipped with a diving sonar. The constraints of this technology lie in its inherent cost which increases that of construction and, above all, the mass added to the hull which it is imperative to foresee during the design in order to be able to balance the submarine within the framework of the Archimedes thrust. Not to mention the additional requirements for maintaining the hull and the coating itself.
Few states have developed this technology: China (at least Type 039A or Yuan class), the United States, Japan (at least the class soryu ), the United Kingdom, Russia and France. There is the particular case of Royal Canadian Navy including class submarines Victoria acquired from the United Kingdom in 1998 (class Upholder ou Type 2400) have an anechoic tile covering without the country having the necessary skills to master the technology.
Offering anechoic tiles is a decisive comparative advantage compared to other proposals. Women et SAAB do not have this technology. Their proposal (model 712) based on the program A26, not counting previous classes of Swedish submarines, focused on reducing acoustic and magnetic signatures. The new proposal from Naval group would respond to the Swedish-Dutch consortium which is proposing the sound 2076 by an agreement concluded on October 2, 2019 by Women et SAAB with ThalesUK. More than a sonar, it is the continuation of the British nuclear submarines (SSBNs et SSN) including a bow sonar, flank sonars, a sonar wave interceptor, an underwater telephone, an active sonar for mine detection and a towed linear antenna. One of the best sonar solutions in the world awaiting ultra-low frequency sonars (2030s).
Naval group seeks and will most likely succeed in eclipsing the presentation of the Spanish shipbuilding company Navantia who was to unveil at the show his proposal based on an adaptation of the series. With the support of the Spanish government, Navantia proposes the S-80Plus, a 3400 ton submerged ship with larger dimensions and tonnage – hence the S-80Plus and no series – due to difficulties encountered, in particular, during the module integration project AIP (Air Independent Propulsion). The sonar suite as well as the combat system are supplied by the American Lockheed Martin. The proposal of Navantia is now considered by analysts to be the weakest in the Netherlands, and many are predicting abandonment or elimination.
Naval group assures the Dutch Ministry of Defense and the Navy of being able to provide technology capable of enabling future submarines to be at the same level as the most advanced submarines, in particular those nuclear powered in the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation. The French industrialist leaves doubt as to the supply of the propeller pump. The general idea is to offer the state of the art in underwater construction to, on an operational level, escape the most experienced anti-submarine devices, such as those of Russia.