On the 21st of February, a team from Horizon was granted a visit onboard the Royal Netherlands Navy Frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provincien (F802).
F802 is the first ship of a total of four of the De Zeven Provincien-Class air defense and command frigates currently in service within the Royal Netherlands Navy. The other ships are named HNLMS Tromp , HNLMS De Ruyter & HNLMS Evertsen.
Onboard we were welcomed by the Ships Public Affairs officer LT Frederique Wiersma and we were guided around practically all the parts of the vessel.
Built in 1998 by Damen Schelde Naval ShipBuilding, HNLMS De Zeven Provincien was commissioned on the 26th of April 2002 at their shipbuilding facilities in Vlissingen.
The frigate is driven by 2 seperate CODOG – Combined diesel or gas propultion systems, the propultion suite is comprised of 2 Rolls-Royce gas turbine engines and 2 Stork-Wartsila Diesel Engines giving the ship a maximum speed of 30kts, cruising at 18kts with a range of 5000miles.
Even though the De Zeven Provincien was intially optimized for anti-aircraft warfare and command, as noted during our walk around, it is capable of attacking surface and submerged targets using the RGM-84F Harpoon missiles and Mk.46 Torpedoes and also the BGM-109 Tomahawk anti-ship missiles.
On the front deck, the ship is equipped with a 127mm Dual-Purpose gun and the vertical launch system hosting anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles. Two CWIS Goalkeeper close weapons system are installed on the ship one in the front of the main mast and the other facing the stern creating a 360-degree protection around the ship.
The ships sensory suite is supplied by Thales Nederland and features, amongst a wide array of sensors, SMART-L naval search radar and the multifunction radar Active Phased Array Radar (APAR). The SMART-L is capable of tracking patrol aircrat at a maximum range of 400km and balistic missiles at a range of 2000km. 32 semi-active radar homing missiles can be guided simultaneously in flight, including 16 during the terminal guidance phase, thanks to APAR, an I band radar that offers accurate target tracking, a very powerful horizon search capability, and missile guidance using the Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI) technique.
The ship is also capable of hosting 1 Medium-Sized Helicopter namely the NH Industries NH90-NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter) now in service with many NATO countires such as the Royal Netherlands Navy. The flight deck is fitted with the DCN Samahe Helicopter landing system which allows the deployment and recovery of the NH-90 even during high seas.
HNLMS De Zeven Provincien is scheduled to take part in HEMEX-ORION AMPHIBIOUS naval exercise this year in the Meditteranean Sea. Hemex-Orion is a high intensity major engagement exercise. This multi-domain exercise is the continuation at the joint level of the POLARIS exercise organised in 2021 by the French Navy.
Horizon would like to thank the Embassy of the Netherlands in Rome for their support in facilitating this visit and also the Frigate’s Commanding Officer and all his crew for the warm hospitality.
