The Royal Netherlands Navy has taken delivery of its first mine countermeasure vessel under the replacement Mine CounterMeasure (rMCM) programme, with the Vlissingen handed over on 27 February 2026 in Den Helder.
This marks the second vessel delivered as part of the programme, following the initial delivery to Belgium in November 2025.
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The keel of Vlissingen was laid in Lanester, France, in June 2022, and the vessel began its maiden sea trials from Concarneau, France, in April 2025.
Developed through collaboration between Naval Group and Exail as part of the Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium, vessels under the rMCM programme are designed for modern mine warfare.
Naval Group leads vessel design while Exail supplies naval drones. Construction and assembly are managed by Piriou under industrial project management from Kership, a joint venture between Naval Group and Piriou.
Integration, testing, and commissioning of the mission system will be conducted jointly by Naval Group and Exail to ensure compatibility between vessels and unmanned systems.
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By GlobalDataThese vessels have an overall length of 82.6 metres (m), a beam of 17m, and can accommodate 63 personnel.
They are equipped with two 7m SOLAS RHIB boats for embarkation, a rear crane with a capacity of 15 tonnes, and an overhead crane rated at three tonnes.
Their design incorporates resistance to underwater explosions and low acoustic, electrical, and magnetic signatures suitable for mine warfare missions.
Vessels in the programme are capable of launching and operating a range of uncrewed vehicles, including two surface drones measuring approximately 12m and weighing 19 tonnes each.
They also carry three autonomous underwater vehicles fitted with UMISAS 120 Exail sonar, as well as two V200 Saab Skeldar aerial drones.
For mine identification and destruction, they are equipped with Seascan and K-Ster C Exail systems.
Additional equipment includes an Exail influence dredger with magnetic and acoustic modules, along with a fully robotic system for the detection, classification, identification, and neutralisation of mines.
The rMCM programme is part of broader European defence cooperation. In September 2023, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands signed a tripartite agreement on mine warfare collaboration.
Naval Systems (DGMR) procurement section head Captain (Navy) Ludo Portier said: “With the transfer and arrival of HNLMS VLISSINGEN, Belgium and the Netherlands take a historic and exceptional step within their binational programme.
“For the first time within our BeNeSam cooperation framework, a Royal Netherlands Navy vessel has been built under contract by the Belgian Minister of Defence — a milestone in which Belgium, acting as lead nation, helps deliver a naval ship for another country. This achievement reflects an exceptional depth of mutual trust and the maturity of our joint capability development.”
