Dutch government picks France's Naval Group for submarines order

The Dutch government on Friday said it had picked French defence company Naval Group to build four new submarines in coming decades in a deal seen by politicians as a potential lifeline for the shipbuilding industry and a boon for France three years after Naval Group lost a key contract to build 12 submarines for Australia.

The first two submarines would be operational within the next 10 years, junior defence minister Christophe van der Maat said. He did not specify the exact value of the multi-billion euro contract. The submarines will be of a size to both operate in shallow waters and take part in missions far from base.

"The Barracuda family submarine will provide the Royal Netherlands Navy with extended leading edge capabilities satisfying the requirements set by the Netherlands Ministry of Defence," Pierre Éric Pommellet, Chairman and CEO of Naval Group said in a statement, welcoming news his group had been selected and saying the submarine programme would help the Netherlands' "strategic autonomy". The agreement still has to be approved by the Dutch parliament, where several parties voiced discontent over the choice for Naval following media reports about the decision.

A group of lawmakers this week urged the government to rethink and opt for a consortium of Swedish defence company Saab and Dutch shipbuilder Damen instead, saying that would benefit domestic industry more. Van der Maat said on Friday that Naval's bid would also create a lot of work for Dutch industry.

"Not only during building, but also for maintenance. This decision is not only good for our navy and our security, but definitely also for Dutch companies," Van der Maat said. Earlier this month the Dutch government said it had largely granted the order to replace nearly its entire non-submarine fleet in the coming 15 years to Dutch industry, with large roles for Damen and the Dutch arm of French defence company Thales .