THE HAGUE
\nDutch judges on Wednesday turned down a lawsuit calling for a submarine deal between the Netherlands and France to be revised, saying there was \u201cno reason\u201d to further investigate the multi-billion-euro agreement.
\nThe Netherlands in March picked French defense company Naval Group and its Dutch partner Royal IHC to build four new submarines for its navy, choosing the bid over one from Germany\u2019s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and Swedish defense group Saab AB.
\nTKMS then filed an objection before The Hague District Court, saying it believed that the Dutch state \u201chas wrongly judged that its offer is invalid.\u201d
\nThe Kiel-based ship and submarine builder wanted judges to order a repeat of the procurement process \u201cin an adapted form\u201d or that \u201cat least various further investigations would be carried out and that a new award decision would then be made.\u201d
\nDutch judges however said the state\u2019s decision to declare TKMS\u2019s bid invalid was \u201con good grounds.\u201d
\n\u201cContrary to what TKMS argued, there is no reason for further investigations into Naval\u2019s submission,\u201d it added.
\n\u201cThe judge therefore dismisses TKMS\u2019s claims in the summary proceedings.\u201d
\nThe vessels are set to replace the Netherland\u2019s four Walrus class subs which entered service in the early 1990s. One of the Walrus class subs was decommissioned last year so that its spare parts could be used to keep the other three in operation.
\nAn outgoing Dutch parliament in June approved the deal, ahead of the new government led by Dutch MP Geert Wilders\u2019 far-right PVV party.
\nThe decision is a boon for Naval Group, coming three years after it abruptly lost a major contract to build 12 Barracuda submarines for Australia.
\nIt also comes as European countries have stepped up military spending in the wake of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
\nThe submarines will be built in Naval Group\u2019s shipyards, but there will also be an industrial cooperation accord to \u201creinforce the technological and industrial base of the Dutch defense industry,\u201d the French defense ministry has said.
\nThe first two subs are to enter service within 10 years of the contract being signed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE HAGUE Dutch judges on Wednesday turned down a lawsuit calling for a submarine deal between the Netherlands and France to be revised, saying there was \u201cno reason\u201d to further investigate the multi-billion-euro agreement. The Netherlands in March picked French defense company Naval Group and its Dutch partner Royal IHC to build four new submarines […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-420431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n