On 10 June 2016, Defence Minister Hennis sent a DMP-A document to the House of Representatives on the replacement of 60 and 81 mm mortars. The working group has the following questions in this regard.
In her DMP-A letter, the minister indicates that for the replacement of the 81 mm mortars, a system is being sought that can guarantee a minimum range of 6000 metres. It is not made clear why the minister chose this and not a more common gestation of between 5000 and 6000m. This distance is Military-off-the-Shelf (MOTS) available and in use by our allies (France, US marine corps and UK).
Presumably, if the 6000m wish is abandoned and the MOTS market is better catered for, acquisition costs will be significantly reduced.
This could free up budget to buy more than the planned 80 60mm mortar systems to better meet the need of 113 systems.
Although the minister states that cooperation in procurement is not possible, international partner(s) could be explored for the maintenance phase. This could (significantly) reduce Life Cycle Costs. The choice of mortar type is decisive for this. It does mean that, when acquiring, flexibility must be shown in terms of the requirements to be placed on the weapon and offers from the various MOTS suppliers.
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The "Politics and Defence & Security Engineering" working group of the Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI) analyses current political developments in the defence sector. It provides facts and interpretation from the technological knowledge and experience of engineers. The facts and opinions given are based on open sources and on the knowledge and experience of working group members and do not represent an official position of KIVI. The association accepts no liability for anything put forward by the working group or its members.
