BAE Systems Bofors 40 Mk4 naval gun system and 3P ammunition on display at Euronaval 2024. (Janes/Neil Dee)
BAE Systems and the Dutch Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT) have signed a contract for eight Bofors 40 Mk4 naval gun systems for the Royal Netherlands Navy and Belgian Navy. BAE Systems subsidiary, BAE Systems Bofors, will provide a pair of the naval gun systems for each of the two Dutch and two Belgian anti-submarine warfare frigates (ASWFs) as secondary armament.
Included in the contract are installation, training, documentation, spares and tools, and an option for BAE Systems' 3P programmable ammunition, along with additional guns for training purposes. Delivery of the first gun is expected in 2026.
Speaking to Janes at the Euronaval 2024 exhibition, held in Paris from 4 to 7 November, Stefan Löfström, director of marketing and sales at BAE Systems Bofors, said that the company is already providing the 40 Mk4 system for the Dutch-Belgian replacement mine-countermeasures (rMCM) programme. Since the rMCM contract was from Belgium, the ASWF contract represented a new customer forBAE Systems in the form of the Netherlands. Löfström added that he believed the rMCM contract may have played a role in the decision to acquire 40 Mk4 for the ASWF.
The acquisition of further ASWF frigates by the two countries is under consideration, however, Löfström said that the current contract does not include the naval gun system for additional ships of the class, but thatBAE Systemsare aware of the potential acquisition.
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