City-class mine countermeasures vessel

Artist impression of the MCM
Class overview
Name	City class (Belgium) Vlissingen class (Netherlands)
Builders	Piriou Concarneau [fr] (France) Kership Lorient [fr] (France) Shipyard ATG Giurgiu (Romania)
Operators	Belgian Navy  Royal Netherlands Navy
Preceded by	Tripartite class Alkmaar class
Cost	€166.67 million per unit[note 1]
Built	Since November 2021[2]
In commission	Planned from August 2025[3]
Planned	12
Building	6
Completed	0
General characteristics [4]
Type	Mine countermeasures vessel
Displacement	2,800 t (2,800 long tons) full load
Length	82.30 m (270 ft 0 in)
Beam	17 m (55 ft 9 in)
Draught	3.80 m (12 ft 6 in)
Installed power	32 MW (43,000 hp)
Propulsion	CODLAD:[4] 1 × ABC 12VDZC diesel generator[5] 2 × ABC 6DZC diesel generators[5] 2 × MEP electric motors (1,800 kW each) Propellers:[4] 2 × Wärtsila axles with fixed pitch screws 2 × Wärtsila transverse bow thrusters 1 × Wärtsila transverse stern thruster
Speed	15.3 knots (28.3 km/h; 17.6 mph)
Complement	33 to 63
Sensors and processing systems	Systems[6] Combat system: Naval Group Polaris system[7] Drone management system and data analysis: UMISOFT suite[1][8] Naval Group Multi-Drone Mission System (MDMS)[9] Containerized Command and Control Centre with the Mine Warfare System (MWS)[8] Sonars: Bow sonar: iXblue [fr] FLS 60[10] Towed sonar:ECA T18-M[4] Autonomous drone with sonar for mine detection: ECA A18-M AUV (equipped with Exail UMISAS 120 sonar)[4][8] Radars: Naval surveillance radar: Terma Scanter 6000[11] Target tracking radar: Thales NS50 AESA[1] Electro-optical sensors: 2 × Sea Eagle FCEO stabilised cameras (HD and infrared) with laser rangefinder, (by Chess Dynamics)[12] Communications: Saab TactiCall ICS communication suite[9][13] Navigation iXblue inertial navigation system[10] Underwater drones: ECA Seascan MK2 (identifying mine)[4][8] ECA K-STER C (disabling mines)'[4][8][14] Patria Sonac ACS - Acoustic Minesweeping Systems drone[15] Electronics for the drones by ST Engineering iDirect Belgium, a subcontractor of Exail[16]
Armament	Guns:[4][17] 1 × BAE Bofors 40 Mk4 2 × FN Herstal Sea deFNder (with FN M3R machine guns) 4 × FN MAG (general-purpose machine guns on board) Non-lethal weapons:[4] 2 × water cannon 2 × Long-range acoustic device (LRAD)
Aircraft carried	2 × UMS Skeldar V-200 unmanned aerial vehicles[4]
Notes	Surface boats: 2 × 7 m SOLAS Viking RHIB[4] 1 × ECA Inspector 125 unmanned vessel which deploys the drones[18] equipped with an Exail FLS-5 sonar[9]) Others: Exail influence dragger with five integrated CTM magnetic modules 1 × overhead crane 1 × stern crane

The Netherlands and Belgium are doing a joint procurement for the replacements of the Tripartite-class/Alkmaar-class minehunters. Each of the two countries is procuring six new mine countermeasure (MCM) vessels, which makes for a total of 12 MCM ships. The new MCM ships, developed by Naval Group, will include a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization remotely operated vehicles.^[19]

In early 2018, the Belgian and Dutch Nnvies signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the joint construction and financing of the ships.^{[citation needed]} A list of requirements was drawn up for the new vessels. Contenders in the race were:

• The Franco-Belgium consortium made up of French shipbuilders STX France and Socarenam together with Belgium's EDR are bidding for the 12 new MCM vessels. Their plan includes the construction of MCM vessels named Sea Naval Solutions and a multi-role frigate named Deviceseas, which will serve as mothership to the MCM vessels. All ships will have a strong focus on autonomous systems operations.^[20]
• France's Naval Group and ECA Group [fr] established Belgian subsidiary Naval & Robotics and bid for the program.^[21][22]
• Imtech Belgium and Damen Group bid for the program.^[21][22]

The contract was won by Naval Group on 15 March 2019.^[21][22]

The new vessels take a new approach to their task. Instead of clearing mines directly from the ship, the ship uses unmanned systems to do this from a distance.^[23]

A first steel cutting ceremony for the first-in-class ship for the Belgian Navy was held on 19 July 2021, with the keel being laid on 30 November 2021.^{[citation needed]} Delivery of the first ship to the Belgian Navy is anticipated in 2024 and to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 2025.^[24] The first ship for the Royal Netherlands Navy started on the 4 March 2022, with a steel cutting ceremony.^{[citation needed]} The keel was laid on 14 June 2022.

On 8 May 2024, the Belgian Ministry of Defence announced that contractor Belgium Naval & Robotics requested a delay to the construction of the first four vessels citing unforeseen circumstances. The delay caused the first vessel, Oostende, to be delivered eight months later than initially planned, pushing her commissioning back to 2025.^[25] The second vessel, Vlissingen, is to be five-to-six months delayed, with Tournai and Scheveningen also seeing delays of two and one month(s) respectively.^[26]

In July 2024, it was reported that the first mine countermeasures vessel, Oostende, had begun its sea trials.^[27]

The deployment system for the RHIB and the unmanned surface vessel was developed by Naval Group. The mission bay is to be equipped with the "Launch and recovery system"(LARS).^[28]

The ECA Group [fr] INSPECTOR 125 unmanned surface vessel was ordered to be a centerpiece of the system. It has a low signature (magnetic and acoustic) which would prevent a mine from being triggered. The vessel is also designed to be unsinkable.^[18] Its mission is focused on communications and deployment of the drones.^[4] This vessel can be deployed from the mission bay by a handling system.^[28]

 Belgium (6)

Belgium gave the green-light to start the procurement on 26 January 2018 and approved a budget of 1.1 billion euros for the six Belgian MCM ships. Besides the Tripartite-class minehunters, the ships will also replace the Belgian logistical support ship Godetia.^[29]

 Netherlands (6)

Contract for the MCM vessels in collaboration with Belgium in 2019, critical design review passed in June 2020.^[30]

 France

At Euronaval 2022, a partnership was signed between the Belgian, Dutch and French navies to enhance cooperation between them. As a result, the French Navy intends to order six vessels based on the City-class design to fulfill the role of BDGM motherships planned in the ongoing SLAM-F mine warfare program.^[31][32]

Name	No.	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comm.	Status	Notes
Belgian Navy City class
Oostende	M-940	Piriou Concarneau [fr]	30 Nov 2021[33]	29 Mar 2023[34]	Aug 2025[3]	Sea trials[35]	Initially planned for December 2024[3]
Tournai	M-941		29 Mar 2023[34]	2 Jul 2024[36]	Mar 2026[3]	Fitting out	Initially planned for January 2026[3]
Brugge	M-942		31 Jan 2024[37]	–	Dec 2026[3]	Under construction
Liège	M-943		–	–	Dec 2027[3]	–
Antwerpen	M-944		–	–	Dec 2028[3]	–
Rochefort	M-945		–	–	Dec 2029[3]	–
Royal Netherlands Navy Vlissingen class
Vlissingen	M-840	Kership Lorient [fr]	14 Jun 2022[38]	29 Sep 2023[39]	End 2025[3]	Under construction[40]	Initially planned for June 2025[3]
Scheveningen	M-841	Shipyard ATG Giurgiu (hull) ECA Group [fr] Kership Lorient [fr] (fitting out)	19 Jul 2023[41]	5 Nov 2024[42]	July 2026[3]	Under construction	Initially planned for June 2026[3]
IJmuiden	M-842		11 Jun 2024[43]	–	June 2027[3]	Under construction
Harlingen	M-843		–	–	June 2028[3]	–
Delfzijl	M-844		–	–	June 2029[3]	–
Schiedam	M-845		–	–	June 2030[3]	–

• Minehunter classes in service
• Future of the Royal Netherlands Navy

• Peruzzi, Luca (2024). "Countering mines at sea: An overview of main European programmes". EDR Magazine. No. 74. EDR Online. pp. 4–13.
• Margés, Joost (April 2021). "NS50 kijkt 4-dimensionaal". Alle Hens (in Dutch). Koninklijke Marine.