Damen Naval has signed a contract with Heinen & Hopman for the new Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Frigates. Heinen & Hopman will supply the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC-R) and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) filtration systems for each of the four frigates for the Dutch and Belgian navies. The new frigates will be deployable for multiple tasks, although the emphasis will be on anti-submarine warfare. The vessels will be designed to sail as quietly as possible in order to prevent detection by submarines as much as possible.
“Just like Damen Naval, we have an enormous Dutch supply base, and our aim is to share the acquired knowledge during this project with as many Dutch suppliers as possible. An extensive part of the equipment is manufactured in our own workshop, and we will involve many Dutch suppliers,” explains Michel Veltman, Sales Manager at Heinen & Hopman.
“We are incredibly proud we have been chosen as Damen Naval’s HVAC supplier once again for the ASW frigates. With our extensive experience in ultra-silent and energy-saving HVAC-R systems, we are sure we are the right choice for the new ASW frigates.” Joep Hopman, CEO at Heinen & Hopman.
“One of our objectives is that we want to share the enormous knowledge accumulation we gain from this kind of high-quality, launching customer project with as many Dutch suppliers as possible. This way, the Netherlands maintains its place in the world’s top tier of complex naval construction, and it strengthens our position within existing and new European partnerships,” explains Damen Naval’s Managing Director Roland Briene. “Just like Damen, Heinen & Hopman is a family-owned business and with their high-quality systems and hands-on and flexible way of working they are the perfect fit for Damen Naval.”
Heinen & Hopman and Damen Naval have cooperated on numerous projects in the past, including the Joint Support Ship HNLMS Karel Doorman for the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Combat Support Ship Den Helder which is currently being built, and the SIGMAs for Indonesia, Morocco and Mexico. The ASW frigates are the replacements for the current Karel Doorman-class of multipurpose frigates built between 1985 and 1991 by Damen Naval (then the Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde). Eight M-class frigates were delivered, of which six were eventually sold to other countries, including two to Belgium. With the end of the service life of these ships in sight, the Netherlands and Belgium decided to jointly replace the ships with these ASW frigates. The first ship is scheduled to be delivered by Damen Naval in 2028.
