Belgian Navy’s third minehunter from rMCM program hits the water

The Belgian Navy has unveiled that its third City-class mine countermeasure vessel, BNS Brugge, was launched in Lorient.

As disclosed, the vessel is the newest ship of the Belgian-Dutch rMCM program, under which twelve minehunters will be built.

Tournai, the second ship for the Belgian Navy and the third in the program, was launched in July last year, while the first vessel destined for the Belgian Navy, Oostende, was floated out in March 2023.

The rMCM program was awarded in 2019 to Belgium Naval & Robotics, the consortium formed by Naval Group and Exail, as part of an international competition.

Naval Group, as overall architect and prime contractor, is responsible for the design of the ships, overall integration, testing and commissioning of the mission system (combat system and mine countermeasures system).

Kership, a joint venture between Naval Group and Piriou, is the industrial prime contractor for the twelve ships, which are being built in Concarneau and Lanester.

Exail, the co-contractor, is in charge of the UAV mission system, most of which will be produced in Ostend, Belgium. Maintenance of the ships will be carried out in Belgium as part of a close collaboration between the Belgian Navy and Naval Group Belgium, with the assistance of its partner Flanders Ship Repair in Zeebrugge.

These minehunters have the following characteristics:

• Length: 82.6 meters;
• Width: 17 meters;
• Displacement: 2,800 toms;
• Maximum speed: 15.3 knots;
• Range: >3500 nautical miles;
• Accommodation: 63 people.

These specialist mine warfare units will be the first to have the capacity to embark and launch or fly a combination of surface drones (vessels of around 12 meters and 18 tonnes), underwater drones and aerial drones.