MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile purchases four Dutch frigates.

Chile signed last Friday the contract for the purchase of four Dutch second hand frigates, an operation involving 350 million US dollars. The first two units are scheduled to arrive in Chile between June and December 2005 and in July 2006 and May 2007 the other two.

"It's a great day for the Navy and the country", underlined Chilean Navy Commander Admiral Miguel Angel Vergara, "because this means a twenty year technology jump for the Navy", in spite of the fact that the Dutch units were commissioned between 1986 and 1993.

Next April a contingent of the Chilean navy will be travelling to Holland to begin training with the refurbished units.

Two of the frigates are L Class, equipped for anti-aircraft operations, built in 1986 but modernized in 2000. The other two are multipurpose, M Class, commissioned in 1993 and Chile will have them refurbished.

Admiral Vergara said that another advantage of the new incorporations will be the lesser maintenance costs and smaller crews needed, 190 for the L Class and 150 for the M Class.

The Navy commander denied the new frigates are incompatible with the current weapons systems of the navy and with the other recent incorporation recently purchased to the Royal Navy (former HMS Sheffield), "Almirante Williams".

"We are going to have three different types of missiles, Sea Wolf, Barak and Sea Sparrow, but we can manage them both logistically and technically. The Chilean Navy is prepared for that", emphasized Admiral Vergara.

The whole 350 million US dollars operation has to be cancelled by 2012.

However Admiral Vergara was optimistic that with the new Dutch frigates the Chilean navy will have sufficient funds left to build in Chile two 1,500 tons ocean patrol vessels and an auxiliary oil tanker by 2007.

The purchase contract was signed by Chilean Defence Minister Michelle Bachelet and Dutch Deputy Defence Secretary Cees Van de Knaap.