BAE Systems has received a contract from Damen Naval for a Bofors 40 Mk4 naval gun system to be installed for anti-aircraft and anti-surface operations on the PES frigate of the Colombian Navy – a Damen Naval SIGMA-class ship. The SIGMA class is a Dutch-built family of modular naval vessels, of either corvette or frigate size, designed by Damen Group. The gun is scheduled to be installed on the PES frigate in 2029. With more than 70 systems sold to eight countries since 2015, Colombia is the second Latin American customer to adopt the highly versatile and multi-target naval gun. Brazil also selected the Bofors 40 Mk4 as their standard primary gun system for small- to medium-sized vessels.
“Damen Naval is very pleased that BAE Systems Bofors will strengthen the versatile combat capabilities of the SIGMA 10514 based PES frigate with their Bofors 40 Mk4 for the Colombian Navy,” said Damen Naval Project Director Jasper Oreel. “As this is the first (direct) procurement contract between BAE Systems Bofors and Damen Naval, we are looking forward to further establishing our business relationship and the PES project execution.”
“We continue to be a trusted partner in Latin America, providing world-leading capabilities in the region to support future growth,” said Stefan Löfström, marketing & sales director at BAE Systems Bofors. “We are delivering cutting-edge solutions that include advanced firepower and the lightening quick response that the Colombian Navy requires.”
The Bofors 40 Mk4 naval gun system is a lightweight multi-purpose naval cannon. It can switch seamlessly among ammunition types, which delivers versatile targeting of air, land, and sea-based threats. The Bofors 40 Mk4 fires programmable Bofors 40 mm 3P all-target ammunition to engage ships, aircraft, anti-ship missiles and shore targets. The programmable 40 mm Bofors 3P ammunition provides the naval gun system with the highest possible combat flexibility, as it can be programmed in six different function modes to provide optimized effect. It is a modern naval version of the Bofors 40 mm L/70۔ The gun can engage targets in less than 0.5 seconds after warning.
In September 2022, the Colombian Ministry of Defense announced that COTECMAR and Damen will co-develop five new frigates for the Colombian Navy based on the Sigma-class design. The Colombian Navy awarded a contract to COTECMAR to build the service’s first frigate under the Strategic Surface Platform (Plataforma Estratégica de Superficie or PES) project on 22 November 2022. The ship’s design was finalized in 2023 between Cotecmar & Damen Naval, construction can begin by 2025. In April 2024, the program were reported to have been facing problems and is expected to miss its planned construction date. In August 2024 it was reported that Damen and COTECMAR had signed a contract for the construction of a frigate based on the Sigma 10514 model.
