Led by Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards, several European naval shipyards and knowledge institutes will research technologies to be included in the next generation of naval platforms. The research project is an effort of the European Union to consolidate the European defence industry as much as possible.
The European defence capabilities suffer from fragmentation and inefficiency. Although the US spends more than twice as much money on defence as the average of European countries (3.3 per cent versus 1.3 per cent gross domestic product (GDP)), the US even has four times more military capacity.
The European Union decided to invest in defence to boost the capabilities and to reduce duplication and therefore also to consolidate the defence industry as much as possible. To this end, a large European Defense Fund (EDF) was established that was preceded by the European Defence Industrial Development Program (EDIDP) 2019.
Roadmap of technologies
Within the framework of this EDIDP fund, eight naval shipyards (“Sea Naval”) and institutes coordinated by Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards will carry out a study entitled “Future naval platforms and related technologies”. This SEA Defence project will conduct a feasibility study in order to prepare a roadmap of technologies to be included in the next generation of naval platforms and to be pursued in further European development programmes.
The study will address the following issues: lower detectability; higher survivability against modern surface and subsurface threats, including against high-speed threats and swarming threats; reduction of ship motions; improved electric power generation and storage; capability to operate in extreme climates; topside; and increased autonomy and automation.
For each area, the state-of-the-art will be mapped and the impact of ship integration on capabilities, budget and interfaces will be assessed. Recommendations will be provided to realise innovations ready for the next generation.
Project participants
Participants of the project are Damen Holding (coordinator, Netherlands), Fincantieri (Italy), Naval Group (France), Navantia (Spain) Saab Kockums (Sweden), Sea Europe (Belgium), Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Odense Maritime Technology (Denmark), Lurssen Defence (Germany), Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO, Netherlands), Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN, Netherlands).
The study will take thirty months. Preparations are already underway to conduct joint follow-up studies under the EDF.
This article was written by Jaap Huisman, SWZ|Maritime’s naval editor.
Picture by Dutch Ministry of Defence.
