The opening of this testing centre is an important milestone towards the delivery of the first ship, scheduled for 2028

April 23rd marked a major milestone in the F126 project in Hengelo in the Netherlands. The German Navy, the BAAINBw, Thales and other F126 project partners, such as Damen Naval, prime contractor for the F126 project, inaugurated the “extended Thales Testing Centre”, a system testing and integration facility dedicated to the project. Here, project partners and the BAAINBw will work together with the German Navy on this extraordinary project.

Last year, Thales has already doubled its local production capabilities in the Netherlands by expanding its own testing and integration facilities. Through to this experience of successfully ramping-up activities, the Group was able to deliver the German Navy and BAAINBw the ‘Extended Thales Testing Centre’ dedicated to the F126 project on time.

Collaborating, testing and integrating
As part of the project, the extended Thales Testing Centre will function as a collaboration hub for various project partners, to whom the facility offers a physical environment to collaborate, innovate and co-create solutions that address the customer’s needs.

Additionally, the system testing and integration will take place in this facility. The building is equipped with multiple testing positions for the ships’ sensors and other hardware. Furthermore, the integration of the mission system into Combat Management System TACTICOS will be validated here.

Created through collaboration
The delivery of this project milestone was made possible through the close collaboration between various project stakeholders and celebrated through the building inauguration in Hengelo with the presence of various projects partners, including broad representation from the German Navy and BAAINBw through Flottillenadmiral Andreas Czerwinski, Konteradmiral Christoph Müller-Meinhard, and Kapitän zur See Matthias Michael Potthoff. From design to construction and opening, the extended Thales Testing Centre is a real co-creation by the German Navy, BAAINBw, Damen, Dura Vermeer and Thales.

“By inaugurating the extended Thales Testing Centre today, we reach a great milestone in the F126 project. Together, we have created a collaborative environment that will enable our colleagues, partners and customer to work together on the innovative solutions for the F126 frigates,” said Dirk Jan de Bruijn, VP Above Water Systems Thales.