De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate

HNLMS Tromp
Class overview
Name	De Zeven Provinciën class
Builders	Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding
Operators	Royal Netherlands Navy
Preceded by	Tromp class Jacob van Heemskerck class
Succeeded by	Future Air Defender (cancelled)
Cost	€600 million ($680 million) per unit
In commission	2002–present
Completed	4
Active	4
General characteristics
Type	Air-defense and command frigate
Displacement	6,050 tonnes (full load)
Length	144.24 m (473 ft 3 in)
Beam	18.80 m (61 ft 8 in)
Draught	5.18 m (17 ft 0 in)
Installed power	4 × Wärtsilä-Deutz D620 V12 diesel-generators, 1,680 kW (2,250 hp) each
Propulsion	Combined diesel or gas 2 × Wärtsilä 16 V26 marine diesel engines, 5.1 MW (6,800 hp) each 2 × Rolls-Royce Marine Spey SM 1A gas turbines, 19.5 MW (26,100 hp) each 2 × propeller shafts, 5-bladed controllable pitch propellers
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	30 officers, 202 ratings
Sensors and processing systems	Thales Nederland SMART-L long-range air and surface surveillance radar Thales Nederland APAR air and surface search, tracking and guidance radar (I band) DECCA NAV navigation radar Thales Nederland Scout (Low-probability-of-intercept) surface search/navigation radar Thales Nederland Sirius IRST long-range infrared surveillance and tracking system Thales Nederland Mirador optical surveillance and tracking system Atlas Elektronik DSQS-24C hull-mounted sonar MK XII IFF system
Electronic warfare & decoys	2 × Thomson Racal Sabre ECM suite 4 × Sippican Hycor SRBOC Mk 36 launcher 1 × AN/SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo decoy
Armament	Guns: 1 × Oto Melara 127 mm/54 dual-purpose gun 2–4 × Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns 4–6 × FN MAG 7.62 mm machine guns 2 × Goalkeeper CIWS Missiles: 40-cell Mk 41 vertical launching system 32 × SM-2 IIIA surface-to-air missiles 32 × Evolved SeaSparrow missiles (quad-packed) 8 × Harpoon anti-ship missiles 2 × twin Mk 32 Mod 9 torpedo launchers with Mk 46 Mod 5 torpedoes
Aircraft carried	1 × NH90 NFH helicopter
Aviation facilities	Hangar and flight deck for 1 medium-sized helicopter

The four De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates are air-defence and command frigates in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine). This class of ships is also known as "LCF" (Luchtverdedigings- en commandofregat, air defense and command frigate). The ships are similar to the German Sachsen-class frigates in role and mission.

Anti-aircraft warfare

These ships were optimized for anti-aircraft warfare and command. For this role the ships are equipped with an advanced sensor and weapons suite. The primary sensors for this role are the long range surveillance radar SMART-L and the multifunction radar Active Phased Array Radar (APAR). The SMART-L and APAR are highly complementary, in the sense that SMART-L is a D band radar providing very long range surveillance while APAR is an I band radar providing precise target tracking, a highly capable horizon search capability, and missile guidance using the Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI) technique, thus allowing guidance of 32 semi-active radar homing missiles in flight simultaneously, including 16 in the terminal guidance phase. The primary anti-aircraft weapons are the point defence Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and the area defence RIM-66 Standard Missile (SM-2) Block IIIA. The Mk 41 Vertical Launching System is used to house and launch these missiles. 32 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and 32 Standard Missile SM-2 Block IIIA are carried.

Ballistic missile defence

The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN) investigated the use of these ships for the role of ballistic missile defence (BMD). During tests carried out by HNLMS Tromp in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, experimental modifications to the SMART-L to allow even longer range were proven. A study by the RNN, the Netherlands Defence Material Organization, Thales Nederland, Raytheon Missile Systems, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and Lockheed Martin was conducted to establish the feasibility of modifying the De Zeven Provinciën class to provide it the capability to intercept ballistic missiles. In particular, the study examined the feasibility of integrating the SM-3 Block IB missile with the SMART-L and APAR radars. The study concluded that – with certain modifications to the SMART-L and APAR, as well as to the ship's Combat Management System and the missile itself – BMD with the De Zeven Provinciën class could be achieved. During a 2015 very large NATO military exercise the BMD capabilities were proven, the sensor suite discovered ballistic targets, and the ship destroyed them using both its own surface-to-air missiles, as well as using a U.S. Navy destroyer's missiles, by providing target data and missile guidance.

A contract was awarded for the radar modification in June 2012. Operational tests and live firing showed the performance to exceed expectations.

Modernization

The De Zeven Provinciën-class ships will get the new SMART-L Mk 2 radar that can detect ballistic missiles at a range of 2,000 km (1,200 mi). The Dutch minister promised also that the APAR radar will have a bigger range than 400 km (250 mi) as the Netherlands is the first country to participate as an active missile shield for NATO.

In late 2011, the Ministry of Defence announced a modernization program to upgrade the SMART-L early-warning radar so that De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates can detect and track ballistic missiles at extended range. This modernization program is scheduled for completion by late 2017 for the entire De Zeven Provinciën class. In 2018 plans were announced to acquire the BMD-capable SM-3 surface-to-air missiles as the ships are provisioned for an extra 8-cell vertical launch module, De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates can pass on the tracking and detection data to other sea-based or land-defense BMD assets, including U.S. Navy's warships, that can deal with a ballistic missile threat.

On 3 May 2018 the Dutch Secretary of Defence, Barbara Visser, informed the Dutch national parliament that the evolved sea sparrow missile (ESSM) aboard the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates will be upgraded from block 1 to block 2. This upgrade will be completed by 2024 and will allow the frigates to deal with the growing threat of modern anti-ship missiles. ESSM Block 2 allows the four frigates to defend against missiles that have greater speed, agility and perform unexpected movements. The current Harpoon surface-to-surface missile (SSM) will also be replaced with a new SSM by 2024. Furthermore, the current Otobreda 127/54 Compact cannon will be replaced with Otobreda 127/64 cannons. The new cannon must be able to fire multiple types of ammunition, including in the future precision-guided ammunition. The project costs between €100 million and €250 million, and will be take place between 2018 and 2023. Lastly, the Goalkeepers will be upgraded to a new version and all ships will have two installed as originally designed, they will eventually be replaced after 2025 by a new system. The replacement system is currently unknown for the Zeven Provinciën class frigates, but it the replacement systems for the goalkeeper is known for the HNLMS Karel Doorman (A833), HNLMS Rotterdam (L800), HNLMS Johan de Witt and the upcoming Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate (Koninklijke Marine). The systems that will be replacing the goalkeeper will be the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile and the OTO Melara 76 mm naval cannon, the specific type of the last mentioned system is not clearly stated.

In the Strategic Defence Review 2022 the acquisition of SM-3 and BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles was announced for which the Mk 41 vertical launch systems will be expanded with an additional unit of 8 cells.

Surface and Subsurface Warfare

As noted above, these ships were optimized for anti-aircraft warfare, but they also have weapons on-board capable of performing anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, for example: the RGM-84F Harpoon missile and Mark 46 torpedoes. In a new defense Study published by the Dutch government in March 2018, it was stated the frigates will receive a new surface-to-surface missile to succeed the Harpoon Block 1D.

Proposals to equip the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates with a total of 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk (8 per ship) cruise missiles were evaluated, but these were shelved in May 2005 but reconfirmed in 2022.

Live missile firings

In November 2003, some 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) from the Azores, the missile guidance capabilities were tested with live firings for the first time. The firings involved the firing of a single ESSM and a single SM-2ER Block IIIA. These firings were the first ever live firings involving a full-size ship-borne active electronically scanned array (i.e., APAR) guiding missiles using the ICWI technique in an operational environment. As related by Jane's Navy International:

During the tracking and missile-firing tests, target profiles were provided by Greek-built EADS/3Sigma Iris PVK medium-range subsonic target drones. [...] According to the RNLN, ... APAR immediately acquired the missile and maintained track until destruction". [...] These ground-breaking tests represented the world's first live verification of the ICWI technique.

HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën outward bound from Portsmouth Naval Base, UK, on 21 September 2009.

Further live firings were performed in March 2005, again in the Atlantic Ocean some 180 nautical miles (330 km) west of the Azores. The tests involved three live-firing events including firing a single SM-2 Block IIIA at an Iris target drone at long range, a single ESSM at an Iris target drone, and a two-salvo launch (with one salvo comprising two SM-2 Block IIIAs and the other comprising two ESSMs) against two incoming Iris target drones. The long-range SM-2 engagement apparently resulted in an intercept at a range of greater than 100 km (62 mi) from the ship, with a missile-target miss distance of 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) (the warhead's proximity fuse having been disabled for the purposes of the test).

During the military exercise Formidable Shield 2021, HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën detected and tracked a ballistic missile with Thales-made SMART-L MM radar and relayed the target information to USS Paul Ignatius for SM-3 engagement. With this activity, the Netherlands becomes the only European country that can simultaneously scan the airspace beyond the atmosphere and space up to 2,000 km (1,200 mi) for air threats.

In 2024 a test-fire of a Tomahawk missile is planned on a range of the US Navy on the West-Coast.

Counterpiracy operations

Ships of the De Zeven Provinciën class have been involved in counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa. The untraditional target set (i.e., small slow-moving or even static surface targets) can apparently be challenging for doppler radars designed to take on "high end" threats. However, according to Jane's International Defence Review:

[The RNLN has] reported great success using tailored surface-search software for the APAR sets fitted to the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates deployed on antipiracy roles. By sacrificing some of APAR's high-end antiaircraft warfare capabilities, which were deemed unnecessary for the antipiracy role, its performance and resolution were improved in the surface-search role.

Export

On 30 November 2017, Alion Canada submitted a proposal based on the De Zeven Provinciën class for the Canadian Single Class Surface Combatant Project. Damen Group, as builder of the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates, was part of Alion's team in this proposal.

Replacement

Main article: Future Air Defender

In 2020 it was announced that these intensively used ships will not be replaced as planned around 2025. Instead the ships will stay five years longer in service. The Royal Netherlands Navy and the German Navy will cooperate towards a joint platform design to replace both the Sachsen-class frigates and De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates from 2030–2035 onwards.

In March 2024 the State Secretary for Defence send a letter to the Tweede Kamer in which plans to replace the current De Zeven Provinciën class air-defense frigates with a new class of four new air-defense frigates were announced. The four new ships are estimated to cost more than 3.5 billion euros and the first ship is expected to be operational in 2036. The Dutch Damen Group will have a main role in the construction of the new ships.

List of ships

Pennant number	Name	Namesake	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Status
F802	De Zeven Provinciën	The seven provinces of the Dutch republic Flagship of admiral de Ruyter	1 September 1998	8 April 2000	26 April 2002	In service
F803	Tromp	Luitenant-Admiraal Maarten Tromp Luitenant-Admiraal-Generaal Sir Cornelis Tromp, Bt	3 September 1999	7 April 2001	14 March 2003	In service
F804	De Ruyter	Luitenant-Admiraal-Generaal Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter	1 September 2000	13 April 2002	22 April 2004	In service
F805	Evertsen	Luitenant-Admiraal Johan Evertsen Luitenant-Admiraal Cornelis Evertsen de Oude Schout-bij-nacht Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge Schout-bij-nacht Cornelis Evertsen de Jongste	3 September 2001	19 April 2003	10 June 2005	In service

All ships were built at the Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding shipyard in Vlissingen, Netherlands.

Similar ships

• Horizon-class frigate, French/Italian collaboration
• Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate, Denmark
• Shivalik-class frigate, India

See also

• List of naval ship classes in service

External links

• De Zeven Provinciën-class Air-defence and Command Frigate (LCF) – Royal Netherlands Navy website of the Netherlands Ministry of Defence
• De Zeven Provincien Class Air Defence and Command Frigate @ naval-technology.com
• Netherlands – De Zeven Provincien Class Destroyer @ AMI International
• De Zeven Provinciën class (Private page)