Groupe Gorgé: major milestone in Belgian-Dutch underwater mine disposal program

Groupe Gorgé today announces that its wholly-owned subsidiary ECA Group has reached a major milestone in the project to supply robotic mine disposal systems to the Belgian and Dutch navies.

Late December, ECA Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Groupe Gorgé, successfully reached the CDR milestone (Critical Design Review) in accordance with the schedule agreed with the customer. Following completion of the PDR (Preliminary Design Review) in November 2020 and the subsequent review of software specifications in April 2021, reaching this important stage (CDR) enables ECA to validate the detailed design of the drone systems and containerized system by checking system compliance with the functional performance and regulatory requirements of the specifications and capacity to carry out wartime mine disposal assignments in accordance with the specified operational employment concepts.

The CDR demonstrated the maturity of the design, thereby clearing the way to launch manufacture of the equipment. The drones will be produced at the Ostend plant in Belgium, currently nearing completion, in time for the customer acceptance procedure due to take place towards the end of 2023. 2022 will mainly be devoted to continued manufacture of the various prototypes and sea trials.

This successful review confirms that the program is well underway thanks to close monitoring and tight control of risks and contingencies.

Other navies including those of Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Australia have recently launched programs to acquire robotic mine disposal systems, presenting further opportunities for the Group.