The Multifunctional Support Ship (MSS), also known as the MSS (formerly TRIFIC & MICAN) is a project of the
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world.
During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...
(RNLN, Dutch: Koninklijke Marine). it was announced on 23 November 2022 by Captain (E)Paul Flos, head of maritime systems at DMO. On 24 September 2024 an announcement was made by State Secretary for DefenceGijs Tuinman that two ships will be procured from the
Damen Group
The Damen Group is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, Netherlands.
Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company.
Dame ...
. Both ships should be in service by 2027.
History
On 23 November 2022 it was revealed that the Dutch navy was investigating the possibility of purchasing four commercially availableoffshore supply type vessels and use these as missile carriers. This program, when first announced, was known as The Rapidly Increased Firepower Capability (TRIFIC) and involved ships that would operate with a very small crew. The ''TRIFIC''-vessels can carry up to six container units with eight or more vertical launch cells (depending on missile size) in each container. One or more of these ships would accompany another vessel like a
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
or an OPV and use the guiding systems and radars of these ships to attack targets.
In December 2023 the revised ''TRIFIC'' concept was announced as ''MICAN''. It was also revealed that instead of four ships, two were initially planned.
On 24 September 2024 State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman gave an update on the MICAN-program, which was now named the ''Multifunctional Support Ship (MSS)''. He also announced the procurement for two ships.
Concept evolution
TRIFIC concept
The Rapidly Increased Firepower Capability Royal Netherlands Navy (TRIFIC) ships were envisioned to stay close (around ) to a
mother ship
A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.
Examples include bomber aircraft, bombers converted to carry exp ...
and give extra missile capability. The ship would rely on the radars,
missile guidance
Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness. Guidance systems improve missile accuracy by improving its P ...
The first stage of the ''TRIFIC''-program was to develop a ship with a low crew. The ship would be around to and based on a commercially available
offshore supply vessel
A platform supply vessel (PSV) is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil and gas platforms and other offshore installations. They typically range from in length and are distinguished by the large open deck area used to store supplies ...
. Crew was required on these ships to keep a man-in-the-loop to actually fire the missiles.
Stage 2
In stage two it was planned for the ships to sail themselves, with a minimal crew to keep a man-in-the-loop.
Stage 3
In stage three the ships would be fully
autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...
accompanying the mother ships.
Armament
= Missiles
=
DMO has spoken to several countries, including Israel, America and France to supply an array of missiles in the short term. The type of missiles is not limited to
Surface-to-air
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...
or
cruise missile
A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...
s. Also the possibility to equip the ships with
loitering munition
A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to Loiter (aeronautics), loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.soft kill capability, for example electronic warfare units.
MICAN concept
The Modular Integrated Capability for ACDF and North Sea (MICAN) concept was announced in December 2023 as a revised plan from the original TRIFIC concept. The plan still involves buying
COTS
COTS may refer to:
* Commercial off-the-shelf, products that are commercially available and can be bought "as is"
* Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, a NASA program for delivery to the International Space Station by private companies
* ...
offshore supply vessels, but instead of four, two ships are planned. Also the mission of the concept has changed, from solely being used as a missile carrier, to being able to carry sensors and systems to investigate (potential) threats on the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
. This task was added in response to a Russian
spy ship
A spy ship or reconnaissance vessel is a dedicated ship intended to gather intelligence, usually by means of sophisticated electronic eavesdropping. In a wider sense, any ship intended to gather information could be considered a spy ship.
Sp ...
, the
Admiral Vladimirsky
''Admiral Vladimirsky'' () is a Russian ''Akademik Krylov''-class oceanographic research ship built in 1975. It has been described as a secret spy ship
A spy ship or reconnaissance vessel is a dedicated ship intended to gather intelligence, ...
EEZ
An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...
on multiple occasions. The new mission is to monitor such vessels and see what they are up to below the surface.
Payload
Payloads that are being considered are:
* Containerized VLS with SAM
* Containerized SSM
*
Loitering munition
A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to Loiter (aeronautics), loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.ECM
ECM may refer to the following:
Economics and commerce
* Engineering change management
* Equity capital markets
* Error correction model, an econometric model
* European Common Market
Mathematics
* Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...
On 24 September 2024 State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman gave an update on the MICAN-program, which was now named the Multifunctional Support Ship (MSS). He also announced the procurement for the first two ships. With insiders telling Marineschepen.nl that more ships are being considered if the program is a success. The two ships will be a militarized version of a fast crew supplier from Damen, most likely the Fast Crew Supplier 5009 (FCS 5009). Besides being a missile carrier for a mother ship, the ships themselves can also be used to patrol the North Sea.
Payload
Weapon Payloads that are selected so far are:
* Containerized Barak-ERSAM
* Containerized IAI Harop
loitering munition
A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to Loiter (aeronautics), loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.ECM
ECM may refer to the following:
Economics and commerce
* Engineering change management
* Equity capital markets
* Error correction model, an econometric model
* European Common Market
Mathematics
* Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...