The cabinet is poised to order four new air defence and command frigates from Dutch shipyards, in an order which could be worth up to €8 billion, RTL Nieuws has reported.

The bulk of the work – in what is the biggest defence order placed in the Netherlands – will be carried out at the Damen shipyards, RTL said, quoting confidential sources.

According to RTL, the deal could be worth up to €8 billion, but Nu.nl states €5 billion has been reserved in the defence ministry budget. Ministers are due to take a final decision at Friday’s cabinet meeting.

The ships will be able to defend an entire fleet against enemy attack from both sea and air and will be equipped with different types of air defence missiles. The Netherlands currently has four air defence frigates, which have been in service for the past 20 years, mainly as part of Nato missions. They were also built by Damen in Vlissingen.

The government is also in the process of finalising the contract for four new submarines. Damen and two foreign shipyards are competing for that contract, which is said to be worth some €4 billion.