HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802)

HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802) is the first ship of the De Zeven Provinciën-class air defence and command frigates in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN). There are three other ships in this class, HNLMS Tromp (F803), HNLMS De Ruyter (F804), and HNLMS Evertsen (F805).

For other ships with the same name, see HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën.
History
Netherlands
Laid down: 1 September 1998
Launched: 8 April 2000
Commissioned: 26 April 2002
Identification:
General characteristics
Class and type: De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate
Displacement: 6,050 tonnes (full load)
Length: 144.24 m (473.2 ft)
Beam: 18.8 m (62 ft)
Draft: 5.18 m (17.0 ft)
Propulsion:
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement: 174 (202 incl. command staff)
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Thales Nederland SMART-L long-range air and surface surveillance radar
  • Thales Nederland APAR air and surface search, tracking and guidance radar (I band)
  • DECCA NAV navigation radar
  • Thales Nederland Scout (Low Probability of Intercept)surface search/navigation radar
  • Thales Nederland Sirius IRST long-range infrared surveillance and tracking system
  • Thales Nederland Mirador optical surveillance and tracking system
  • Atlas Elektronik DSQS-24C hull-mounted sonar
  • MK XII IFF system
Electronic warfare
& decoys:		 Thales Sabre ECM suite
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 1 × NH-90 helicopter

De Zeven Provinciën is the eighth ship in the Royal Netherlands Navy to carry this name. The name refers to the original seven Dutch provinces which together formed the Union of Utrecht.

She was built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (formerly the Koninklijke Schelde Groep) in Vlissingen. Her design incorporates stealth technology, as well as advanced radars of Dutch design such as SMART-L and APAR.

As of December 2009, Commander Hugo L.J. Ammerlaan is De Zeven Provinciën's commanding officer.[1]

Live Missile Firings

De Zeven Provinciën carries the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) and the SM-2 Block IIIA missile systems. The primary sensor used to guide these missile systems is APAR.

In November 2003, approximately 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) from the Azores, De Zeven Provinciën conducted her first live firings of these missile systems. The firings involved a single ESSM and a single SM-2. These firings were particularly significant in that they were the first ever live firings involving a full-size ship-borne Active Electronically Scanned Array (i.e., APAR) guiding missiles using the Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI) technique in an operational environment.[2] As related by Jane's Navy International:

During the tracking and missile-firing tests, target profiles were provided by Greek-built EADS/3Sigma Iris PVK medium-range subsonic target drones. [...] According to the RNLN, ... "APAR immediately acquired the missile and maintained track until destruction". [...] These ground-breaking tests represented the world's first live verification of the ICWI technique.[3]

Further live firings were performed by De Zeven Provinciën in March 2005, again in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 180 nautical miles (330 km; 210 mi) west of the Azores.[3] The tests involved three live-firing events including firing a single SM-2 at an Iris target drone at long range, a single ESSM at an Iris target drone, and a two-salvo launch (with one salvo comprising two SM-2s and the other comprising two ESSMs) against two incoming Iris target drones.[3] The long-range SM-2 engagement apparently resulted in an intercept at a range of greater than 100 km (62 mi) from the ship, with a missile-target miss distance of 8 feet (2.4 m) (the warhead's proximity fuze having been disabled for the purposes of the test).[3]

References
  1. "Commandant" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
  2. Jane's International Defence Review, February 2004, "Active phased array multifunction radars go live for missile firings"
  3. Jane's Navy International, October 2005, "Live firing tests rewrite the guiding principles"
HNLMS De Zeven Provincien (F802) helps Hyundai Fortune 3 March 2006.
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