Posted on August 13, 2025
In 2024, IHC Defence signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence’s Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT) for the production and delivery of six Winch and Handling Systems. Last month, the start of the production of the new Winch and Handling Systems took place at our location in Kinderdijk. This important milestone in the project was marked by “cutting the steel” for the first winch by Bart Möhlmann (Manager System Integration of the project at COMMIT) in the presence of the project team from COMMIT.
The newly built systems will be placed on the future Anti Submarine Warfare Frigates (for the Royal Netherlands Navy [Koninklijke Marine] and for the Belgian Navy) and on board HNLMS Karel Doorman. The Winch and Handling Systems are intended for the deployment and recovery of a towed combined passive and/or active sonar (towed array). This sonar is of great importance for the protection of these capital vessels in areas where there is a high probability of attacks by submarine launched torpedoes. The highly sensitive sonar can detect any torpedoes fired so that the ship can deploy countermeasures in time.
The first Winch and Handling System will be delivered mid-2026 and the last in 2029. The contract includes options for additional systems.
