Adds particulars, CEO quotes, background PARIS, Nov 17 (Reu
Adds particulars, CEO quotes, background
PARIS, Nov 17 (Reuters) – France’s Thales TCFP.PA stated on Tuesday it received a 1.5 billion-euro contract to construct fight methods for 4 superior MKS 180 frigates to be constructed for Germany by Dutch shipbuilder Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding.
It’s the third-biggest contract within the historical past of Europe’s largest defence electronics maker, outpaced solely by main offers to equip France’s Rafale fighter and FREMM multi-mission frigate, Thales Chief Govt Patrice Caine informed Reuters.
The brand new ships, to be delivered from 2028, 5 years later than initially supposed following a protracted procurement course of, might be used for attacking targets on land and underwater, in addition to offering aerial safety to different vessels.
It follows a pan-European tender which drew some criticism in Germany.
Damen was picked this yr to construct the frigates and entered talks with accomplice Thales for methods together with the Above Water Warfare System, developed with Dutch authorities funding.
The system is designed to withstand “saturation assaults” meant to overwhelm a ship’s defences. Thales is growing comparable know-how for Belgian and Dutch navies.
Damen and Thales had reportedly confronted competitors from Bremen-based shipyard Luerssen and Thyssen Krupp Marine Methods and German Naval Yards paired with Britain’s BAE Methods.
Caine stated the choice to open a European tender and to pick out a global group mirrored a selection primarily based on know-how. Analysts say single-country defence contracts have typically been pushed by defending nationwide champions.
“The mission underscores Damen’s and Thales’s ambition to construct additional cooperation with shipyards and partnering industries in high-end European naval programmes,” Thales stated.
Final yr a consortium together with Thales received a contract to construct 5 general-purpose T31 frigates for Britain.
Thales can also be a part of a group growing France’s latest frigate, the FDI Defence and Intervention vessel.
“If these navies select us, it is as a result of we’re British in Britain, German in Germany, French in France,” Caine stated.
Thales stated the frigates could be designed by Damen and in-built Germany beneath Damen’s management, with choices for as much as two extra ships.
Caine stated it was too early to guage the impression of negotiations to finish Britain’s exit from the European Union.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; modifying by Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler)
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