Royal IHC and Naval Group signed an agreement to become core partners in the bid for the Netherlands submarine replacement project.
Together they form a robust core team in which both partners bring in their complementary experience and expertise in designing and manufacturing complex maritime and defence systems. This partnership is an important step in creating a group of companies with the best capabilities to design and build the new submarines while sustaining and further developing the Dutch maritime cluster and submarine capability for the coming decades.
Submarine and Complex Vessels Experts
Naval Group is an international submarine expert with a proven track record in building submarines through industrial cooperation with local experts, for example in Australia, Brazil or India. IHC is a worldwide operating integrator of complex vessels and systems with a long-standing experience in delivering highly capable complex vessels with integrated equipment.
With this partnership, the two industrial players combine their complementary expertise to propose the best solution to the Royal Netherlands Navy. Naval Group would define the submarine design with the Dutch authorities, while Royal IHC would be appointed to perform the construction and outfitting of the end product leveraging the Dutch maritime sector.
Involvement of Dutch Maritime Cluster
Naval Group sees the partnership as a stepping stone to allow maximum involvement of the Dutch maritime cluster.
‘Naval Group aims for a long-term presence in the Netherlands and has built a robust network of over seventy Dutch industrial partners. We have been engaging actively with the Dutch industry and knowledge centers for over a year and a half and have reinforced our local footprint with several important milestones such as the creation of a Naval Group subsidiary in the Netherlands. Today, we are joining our strengths together with Royal IHC to support the Netherlands MOD getting the most capable submarine responding to the specific needs of a first-rank NATO partner,' declared Hervé Guillou, Naval Group Chief Executive Officer during the ceremony of signature.
Review of Building Sites
Over the next months, Naval Group and Royal IHC will reinforce their partnership with the review of building sites in the Netherlands and by engaging in an ongoing dialogue with Dutch industry partners.
Picture: Dave Vander Heyde, CEO van Royal IHC (left) and Hervé Guillou, CEO Naval Group, sign the agreement.
