HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802)

For other ships of the same name, see HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën.

Career (Netherlands)
Laid down:	1 September 1998
Launched:	8 April 2000
Commissioned:	26 April 2002
General characteristics
Class and type:	De Zeven Provinciën class frigate
Displacement:	6,050 tonnes (full load)
Length:	144.24 m
Beam:	18.80 m
Draft:	5.18 m
Propulsion:	2 propeller shafts, controllable pitch propellers 2 Wärtsilä 16V6ST diesel engines, 8.4 MW each 2 Rolls Royce Spey SM1C gas turbines, 18.5 MW each 4 GEC Alsthom Paxman diesel-generators, 1650 kW each
Speed:	30 knots
Complement:	174 (202 incl. command staff)
Armament:	5×8 Mk41 vertical launch system with 8 cells each Standard armament: 8×4 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and 32 SM-2 IIIA surface-to-air missiles Another 8 cell MK41 VLS can be added 2 Goalkeeper CIWS guns 2 quadruple Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers 1 Oto Melara 127 mm/54 dual-purpose gun 2 Oerlikon Contraves 20 mm machine guns 2 twin MK32 Mod 9 torpedo launchers with Raytheon MK46 Mod 5 torpedoes

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 more ships in this class, HNLMS Tromp (F803), HNLMS De Ruyter (F804) and HNLMS Evertsen (F805).

HNLMS 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 HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën's commanding officer.^[1]

Live Missile Firings

HNLMS 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) from the Azores, the HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën conducted its first live firings of these missile systems. The firings involved a single ESSM and a single SM-2 Block IIIA. 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 the HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën in March 2005, again in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 180 nautical miles (330 km) west of the Azores.^[3] The tests involved three live-firing events including firing a single SM-2 Block IIIA 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-2 Block IIIAs 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 from the ship, with a missile-target miss distance of 8 feet (the warhead's proximity fuse having been disabled for the purposes of the test).^[3]

See also

• De Zeven Provinciën class frigate
• APAR
• SMART-L

References

• Jane's Navy International, October 2005, "Live firing tests rewrite the guiding principles"
• Jane's International Defence Review, February 2004, "Active phased array multifunction radars go live for missile firings"

External links

• NavalTechnology page about De Zeven Provinciën class frigates
• Thales Nederland page about March 2005 missile firings
• Dutch Ministry of Defence dispaches on the ship's activities in the Indian Ocean in 2006 (Helping a container ship in distress, helping a ship taken over by pirates, boarding a suspicious ship proven to be innocent).

Notes

1. ^ "Commandant" (in Dutch). http://www.defensie.nl/marine/operationeel/schepen/hr_ms_de_zeven_provincien/commandant. Retrieved 2011-03-18. 
2. ^ Jane's International Defence Review, February 2004, "Active phased array multifunction radars go live for missile firings"
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Jane's Navy International, October 2005, "Live firing tests rewrite the guiding principles"

HNLMS De Zeven Provincien (F802) helps MV Hyundai Fortune 3 March 2006.