Thales to Supply AWWS Fire Control Cluster for Dutch and Belgian ASW Frigates 

The Dutch Command Materiel and IT (COMMIT) and Thales have signed a contract for the production and delivery of the Above Water Warfare System (AWWS) fire control cluster and sensor suite for the four new anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates that Damen Naval will build for the Dutch and Belgian navies, Thales announced on 29 June 2023.

The contract, valued at several hundreds of millions of euros, is the second contract for Thales’ AWWS fire control cluster after the 2020 agreement to supply the system for Germany’s F126-class frigates.

“AWWS is a cutting-edge warfare suite that helps the ship’s crew to counter and neutralise high-velocity and complex saturation attacks by continuously analysing and optimising the tactical environment and deployment of resources,” Thales stated in a press release. “This integrated radar and fire control system combines the information from several sensors, including radars.”

The new sensor suite uses Thales’ latest technology based on the APAR Block 2 X-band and SM400 Block 2 S-band radars integrated into a one-radar system that is able to reconfigure its tasks dynamically.

Damen will build two ships for each navy, the first of which, for the Netherlands, is due to be operational in 2029. The ASW frigates will replace the Belgian and Netherlands’ multi-purpose frigates of the Karel Doorman class that are reaching the end of their lifecycle.

Peter Felstead