{"id":52703,"date":"2019-12-17T17:00:36","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T17:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/17\/dutch-walrus-submarine-program-shuffles-forward-but-not-by-much\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:53:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:53:35","slug":"dutch-walrus-submarine-program-shuffles-forward-but-not-by-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2019\/12\/17\/dutch-walrus-submarine-program-shuffles-forward-but-not-by-much\/","title":{"rendered":"One bidder out, three remain in Dutch race to replace Walrus subs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2014 The Dutch Defence Ministry has dropped shipbuilder Navantia from the pool of bidders for the multibillion-dollar Walrus submarine-replacement program, announcing that additional negotiations will follow with the remaining three contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter to parliament on Friday, State Secretary for Defence Barbara Visser laid out the reasons why the Spanish company was eliminated, adding that the government will award a contract for four boats in 2022 with either Naval Group, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems or Saab-Kockums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement comes after previous expectations that the government would pick a vendor in the spring of 2019. Since then, however, a new national defense-industry strategy has upped the expectation of including domestic naval companies in the new Walrus supply network to the greatest extent possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navantia failed to make the cut on the industrial-cooperation front, according to Visser\u2019s missive to lawmakers, known as a B-Letter in local military-acquisition speak. In other words, the Netherlands is \u201cuncertain\u201d cooperation with Spain would work out and that it would offer fewer touchpoints compared with the governments of the other three bidders \u2014 France, Germany and Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\t