Tag Archives: Barracuda

Navy

2nd Barracuda

At 7.14 a.m. on Friday, November 26, 2021, Naval Group CEO Pierre-Eric Pommellet began the transfer of the second Barracuda-class nuclear submarine – FS Duguay-Trouin (S636).

FS Duguay-Trouin (S636)
The transfer of the FS Duguay-Trouin (S636) submarine to the French fleet is scheduled for the end of next 2022

Mounted on twenty-four trolleys arranged in two parallel rows, the submarine, weighing approximately 4,500 tons, began to move at a speed of just under thirty meters per hour. Thus, the submarine Duguay-Trouin covered 120 meters separating the Laubeuf shipyard from the Cachin launching device. There was no big ceremony, as was the case in July 2019 with the transfer of the first submarine FS Suffren (S635) and the presence of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, this time. Nevertheless, many employees of the Naval Group and its subcontractors came to watch this ceremony of rolling out the submarine from the Laubeuf shipyard.

«The Duguay-Trouin rolled out less ceremoniously», agrees Jean-Luc France, director of the Naval Group in Cherbourg. «Nevertheless, this is an important event for the Naval Group team and its partners».

The first steel sheet of the Duguay-Trouin submarine was cut back in June 2009. In 2017, the Laubeuf shipyard began work on the integration of about 700 thousand pieces of equipment. The submarine hull was assembled by December 2020. «Together with TechnicAtome, we have just completed extensive testing of a nuclear facility», said Hervé Glandais, program director at Naval Group. The last phase of testing will continue at the Cachin facility.

The FS Duguay-Trouin (S636) attack-class nuclear-powered attack submarine is due to be delivered to the French Navy at the end of 2022.

The Barracuda class boat building program, Hervé Glandais noted, is the main one for the Naval Group. About 10,000 people and 800 enterprises are working on this program. In Cherbourg alone, 2,500 people work daily, including 800 partners and subcontractors.

In addition to FS Suffren (S635) and FS Duguay-Trouin (S636), the fleet will receive 4 Barracuda class nuclear submarines: FS De Grasse (S637), FS Tourville (S638), FS Rubis (S639) and FS Casabianca (S640). By 2026, the fleet will have four Barracuda-class submarines in service (one submarine every two years). The last boat in the series, Casabianca, will be delivered to the fleet in 2029.

Navy

First Launch of MdCN

On October 20, 2020, the Suffren, the first of the six nuclear attack submarines (ANS) of the Barracuda program, successfully completed a Naval Cruise Missile (MdCN) test firing off the DGA Essais de Missiles site at Biscarrosse (Landes).

MdCN
The submerged firing of the Naval Cruise Missile by Suffren, the lead boat of France’s new class of nuclear attack submarines, follows that of SM-39 Exocet anti-ship missiles and completes the qualification of the boat’s weapon system (French Navy file photo)

Florence Parly salutes this success: «For the first time, a French submarine has fired a cruise missile. This success gives our Navy a new strategic capability and places it among the best in the world. This new weapon is a real breakthrough, the fruit of years of effort and investment, notably permitted by the 2019-2025 military programming law. I congratulate all those – French Navy, DGA, industry – who made this firing possible. French submarine forces could hitherto strike submarines and surface ships. They can now destroy heavy land infrastructure at long ranges».

This firing enabled the qualification of the integration of all the armaments of the Suffren, carried out as part of the ship’s sea trials conducted by the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) since last April.

This success marks an important stage in the tests of the Suffren with a view to its overall qualification by the DGA. Her delivery to the French Navy will take place by the end of 2020, before her admission to active service in 2021.

Prepared by teams from the DGA, the French Navy and the manufacturers MBDA and Naval Group, this test firing of the MdCN naval cruise missile is the latest milestone in a series of tests which has made it possible to verify the correct operation of the weapons and, more generally, of the combat system of the Suffren.

With a range of several hundred kilometers, the MdCN can attack and destroy infrastructure targets having a high strategic value. After the Multi-Mission Frigates (FREMM), the Suffren nuclear attack submarines are the first French submarines equipped with this conventional deep strike capability.

The ability to fire the MoNC from a submarine poses a constant and undetected threat of a strike from the sea against inland targets. It very significantly increases the penetration capability of French weapons in theaters of operations.

During her trials in the Mediterranean, Suffren also successfully carried out, off the DGA Missile Tests site based on the Île du Levant (Var), a test firing of an Exocet SM39-type anti-ship missile. She also carried out several test firings of the F21 heavy torpedo. This new-generation weapon is ultimately intended for all French Navy submarines.

The qualification of the entire Suffren weapons system paves the way for the end of sea trials and its overall qualification. This will allow her delivery to the French Navy for the verification of her military characteristics and then her admission to active service.