City class & Vlissingen class / The new faces of naval mine countermeasures

The MCM PF83-class vessel for Mine Countermeasures, or MCM, marks a fundamental change in this field. Designated as the City-class by the Belgian Navy, and the Michigan-class by the Royal Netherlands Navy, it replaces the previous-generation three-party-class mine hunters. Each country has ordered six new vessels for a total of twelve. As the Weapon Detective, we are now investigating the City-Michigan-class and the evolving nature of the naval MCM. The MCM PF83 is nothing but a mothership class for various unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles for MCM operations. It is a pivotal transformation. Hereafter, an MCM will not enter mine waters to hunt threats. When Belgium launched the procurement process for a new MCM vessel in 2017 to replace its three-party-class mine hunters, only a few recognized it as the first step toward a fundamental change in this field. The study showed that the technology was mature enough to support a new concept based on operating robots entirely. Therefore, the new ship would serve as a mothership for various unmanned detection and disposal systems, rather than simply a carrier for divers and remotely operated vehicles or ROVs. On January 26, 2018, Belgium approved the start of procurement for new ships under this new concept. In the same year, the country signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Netherlands to collaborate on the project. Initially, four contenders submitted their offers, but one withdrew shortly thereafter. The race therefore continued with three consortia. In 2019, the offer from Belgium Naval and Robotics formed by Francis Naval Group and ECA Robotics won the tender, and the Netherlands officially joined the programme. A year later, the critical design review was passed. The French joint-venture Kirchship, owned 55% by Pirium and 45% by Naval Group, is the prime contractor for construction, while shipyard ATG Giurgiu SRL of Romania wields some parts. The first vessel of the city-class Ostende was laid down on November 30, 2021. However, the programme faced many issues, including an epidemic from the outset, and Naval and Robotics requested a delay in the construction of the first four ships. She was launched on March 29, 2023, and began sea trials in July 2024. Her commissioning date was pushed back to November 3, 2025, eight months later than originally planned. The last, Rochefort, is expected to join the fleet in 2029. The first Michigan-class ship, ZRMS Michigan, was laid down on June 14, 2022, and launched on September 29, 2023. She was delivered to the Royal Netherlands Navy for sea trials on February 27, 2026, and is counting down to commissioning. Her delivery was also delayed by six months. The final, ZRMS Sheedham, will join the fleet in 2030. The angled design of the city-class enhances stealth, but the indented and protruding aft significantly increases its radar cross-section. The command and information centre, located directly behind the bridge, includes consoles for the Naval Group Polaris combat system, the IGZAI-UMISOFT drone management and data analysis system, and the Naval Group MDMS multi-drone mission system. The city-class has two bow and one stern thrusters, giving the ship extraordinary manoeuvrability. It carries two 7m SOLAS Viking rigid inflatable boats, and is equipped with one overhead and one stern crane for launching and recovering boats, AUVs, and USVs. The city-class carries approximately 80 unmanned mine detection and disposal systems. It can operate them in Sea State 5. The vessel still has the bow-mounted FLS-7 and the towed T-18M sonars. The FLS-7 3D multi-beam forward-looking sonar provides three-dimensional coverage and a geo-reference view to enhance ship and crew safety. It detects objects in the water column, drifting, or on the seabed at distances of 600, 450, and 350 metres, respectively. The T-18M combines synthetic aperture sonar, multi-beam echosounder, and gap filler technologies, and can be towed at the city-class' maximum speed. Its operational depth ranges from 3 to 300 metres. It scans 3.8 square kilometres per hour at 8 knots, with a sonar range of 180 metres and a swath of 360 metres. Nevertheless, the primary mission equipment for the city-class is the Inspector 125 Unmanned Surface Vessel or USV. It is unsinkable and is made of glass-reinforced plastic and has low magnetic and acoustic signatures. The USV measures 12.33 metres in length, 4.2 metres in beam, and can operate for 40 hours at speeds up to 20 knots. The Inspector 125 carries the A-18M Autonomous Underwater Vehicle or AUV, equipped with the UMISA-120 sonar, which operates at depths from 3 to 300 metres. The AUV has an operational endurance of 24 hours at 3 knots. The Inspector 125 also carries the SeaScan Mark II AUV for mine identification, equipped with an FLS-5 high-resolution sonar, three HD cameras, and four LED searchlights. The sonar detects objects in the water column, drifting, or on the seabed at distances of 300, 300 and 200 metres, respectively. The 55 kilogram SeaScan Mark II has an endurance of 3 hours, a maximum speed of 5 knots, a maximum operational depth of 300 metres, and a range of 1,500 metres. The 55 kilogram K-Star-C mine disposal drone features a shape-charge warhead with 2.5 kilograms of insensitive explosive. It has an endurance of 1 hour, a maximum speed of 5 knots, a maximum operational depth of 300 metres, and an operational range of 1,500 metres. The SONAC ACS generates high sound pressure across a wide frequency band to stimulate any ship. It is designed to detect influence mines with advanced acoustic triggering and can be towed at 6 knots. The City-class deploys two UMS Skelder V-200 unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. They conduct aerial surveillance and relay missions. Each UAV has a maximum speed of 140 kilometres per hour, a mission radius of 100 kilometres, and an endurance of over 6 hours. All detection and display systems, except for two units, are designed and manufactured by IGZAI. The SONAC ACS is supplied by Patria, and the UMS Skelder V-200 is provided by Saab. The ship is equipped with the I-band Thermoscanter 6002 2D surveillance and navigation radar, which has a range of 180 kilometres. The I-band Thales NS50 4D Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar also has a range of 180 kilometres and provides fire control for the bow gun with the capacity to track 1,000 objects simultaneously. The ship is fitted with two Sea Eagle FCEO stabilized cameras with laser rangefinder. The City-class is armed with a remotely controlled 40mm BAE Bufoche 4D Mark IV gun capable of firing 3P programmable munitions. It has an effective range of 4,000 metres and a rate of fire of 300 rounds per minute. Its turret also holds 100 ready-to-fire rounds. The ship is equipped with two FN Herstal C Defenders, each with a 12.7mm machine gun and a 300-round magazine. The remotely controlled weapon station have depression and elevation angles from minus 40 to plus 70 degrees. The MCM vessel also carries four 7.62mm MAG machine guns, two water cannons, and two long-range acoustic devices. The complement of the City-class can vary from 33 to 62 depending on the mission. The ship has a length of 82.3 metres, a beam of 17 metres, and a draught of 3.8 metres. Its fully loaded displacement is about 2,800 tonnes. The combined diesel and electric and diesel propulsion system consists of one ABC-12 VDZC and two ABC-6 DZC diesel generators and two MEP electric motors producing a total of 43,000 horsepower. The top speed of the MCM vessel is over 15 knots. The range is 6,480 kilometres, equivalent to 3,500 nautical miles at full speed. The City-class adopts a new approach to naval MCM. Instead of clearing mines directly from the ship, it hosts various unmanned mine detection and disposal systems to do so remotely. Can we describe this shift as revolutionary? The idea itself is not revolutionary, but the practice undeniably is. A mine hunting task force typically comprises manned mine hunters centred on a command ship tender. Unmanned systems have been used in this job for decades. Replacing manned mine hunters with unmanned vessels and creating a large vessel to operate them efficiently are logical steps, not radical innovations. This transformation was inevitable. The retirement of previous-generation mine hunters due to age created an ideal opportunity for transformation. The City-class is simply an MCM mothership rather than an MCM vessel. In addition to serving as a command platform, it is a drone tender. The Belgian Navy's decision to use them as a replacement for the retired logistics support ship Gudisia, which was decommissioned on July 2, 2021, supports our assessment. This transformation has inevitably introduced new challenges. As the first application of this concept, the programme entered uncharted territory. While unexpected issues arose, they were resolved, though some delays occurred. During this process, the Royal Netherlands Navy leased MV Heossie as a testbed until the first new City-class MCM vessels entered service. This leasing has helped identify and resolve problems early. Despite challenges such as COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, the energy and raw material crisis, and labour shortages, the programme has progressed well. Is the City-class first of its type? Some might claim that the US littoral combat ship project aimed at the same goal in some sense. Yet, this vessel was intended to be many things, a dream that was unrealistic and too ambitious. In the end, it has become less than ideal for each of its missions. In contrast, City-class planners focused on a single mine countermeasures role, which has led to better performance than the multipurpose approach of the LCS. Many countries have now adopted this model. The Italian Cacciamina Nova Generazione Altura and the Turkish MHV-80 are the first followers. Norway has also expressed interest in such a ship to replace its Alta and Uksai-class MCM vessels. Although the prime contractors for the City-class are mainly French, this country has not yet participated in this project, as it did not in the previous three-parted class programme. France has collaborated with the UK on the SLAMF project to develop mission equipment and unmanned systems for its future MCM vessels. Also, the French Navy does not use 40mm guns on its ships. Nevertheless, at EuroNaval 2022, France signed a memorandum of understanding with Belgium and the Netherlands to cooperate on mine countermeasures including the sharing of systems and weapons. It is likely that the French Navy will acquire a version tailored to its requirements. Some sources claim that Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania are also interested in this vessel. Consequently, we can say that this transformation will create a new large market while changing the concepts. As the pioneer of its type and the only mature product available, the future of the City-class seems quite bright. Thanks for watching our video. And please don't forget to subscribe to our channel, and click the bell button to be notified of our new videos. For more contents like this, please consider clicking the join button to support our channel. And as always, we would greatly appreciate all of your likes, comments and shares.