French shipbuilder DCNS hosted an industry day together with other French companies and officials in Oslo advocating a strengthening of industrial cooperation between the two countries ahead Norway’s decision on who would be building its next generation of submarines.
The Norwegian Ministry of Defence announced in April 2016 that DCNS was shortlisted as one of the two potential candidates for the replacement of its submarine fleet.
The other shortlisted candidate is Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.
The industry day was inaugurated by the Embassy of France in Oslo on December 6. More than 65 Norwegian defense companies along with the French team took part.
DCNS is proposing its Scorpene submarine design as a possible option to replace the in-service Ula-class submarines of the Norwegian Navy.
“It (the submarine design) benefits from the latest technologies developed for submarines operated by the French Navy, including the latest Barracuda technologies to ensure to the Royal Norwegian Navy an acoustic advantage for the challenges it has to face in the high north,” DCNS said.
The partnership between Norway and DCNS started in the 1980s with the Hauk program, maneuverable patrol boats. In 2003, the Royal Norwegian Navy selected DCNS in partnership with Norwegian KDA and UMOE Mandal to build the new Skjold-class FPBs vessels.