Tag Archives: D654 Auvergne

Navy

Auvergne commissioned

According to Defense-aerospace.com, on February 14, 2018, the Chief of the Naval Staff admitted to active service D654 Auvergne, the 4th multi-mission frigate (FREMM). Now declared fit for combat by the Navy, she joins D650 Aquitaine, D652 Provence and D653 Languedoc, her three sister-ships in the FREMM class.

The D654 Auvergne after its commissioning. Under current plans, the French navy will have received six FREMM frigates in anti-submarine configuration by 2019. Another three will follow by 2022, two of them with enhanced anti-air capabilities (French navy photo)
The D654 Auvergne after its commissioning. Under current plans, the French navy will have received six FREMM frigates in anti-submarine configuration by 2019. Another three will follow by 2022, two of them with enhanced anti-air capabilities (French navy photo)

This admission is the culmination of a process of verification of the ship’s military capabilities. In 2017, D654 Auvergne was deployed for more than four months in diversified areas of operations: the Mediterranean Sea, the China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and the Pacific Ocean.

This deployment was marked by its integration into Task Force 50, formed around the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68), and the Combined Task Force 150, the multinational naval force fighting against illicit trafficking. D654 Auvergne also helped show France’s commitment to respect for international law and the freedom of navigation, particularly in the China Sea.

D654 Auvergne confirmed the already recognized qualities of the FREMM-class as modern, versatile, enduring and flexible vessels. They meet the needs of maritime rescue missions, the gathering of information in all three dimensions, and the requirements of high-intensity conflicts: control of a zone of air-sea operations, anti-ship, anti-submarine and anti-air missions, and support of projection operations, command of a national or combined naval air force, etc.

Two major assets are worth highlighting: the ability that France now has to strike accurately from the sea and in depth, with the MdCN naval cruise missile, and its unequaled performance in anti-submarine warfare, thanks to the alliance of the ship’s hull-mounted sonars and her embarked (NH90) Cayman helicopter.

With this fourth FREMM frigate, the French Navy reinforces its ability to ensure France’s security, both in its own waters and on the high seas.

The future LPM multi-year funding law confirms the importance of first-rank frigates that contribute to all strategic functions. Thus, to reach the target of 15 frigates of first rank, four intermediate-size frigates (FTI) will be ordered and two delivered by 2025.

The last four FREMMs will have been delivered in 2025, the final two with enhanced air defense capabilities.

 

Characteristics

Total length 466 feet/142 m
Width 65.6 feet/20 m
Displacement 6,000 tonnes
Maximum speed 27 knots/31 mph/50 km/h
Operation 108 persons (including helicopter detachment)
Accommodation capacity 145 men and women
Cruising range at 15 knots/17 mph/28 km/h 6,000 nautical miles/6,905 miles/11,112 km

 

Navy

Multi-mission frigate

On 11 April in Toulon, DCNS delivered the FREMM multi-mission frigate D654 Auvergne to the French Navy, as stipulated in the contract. This frigate is the fourth of the series ordered by OCCAR (L’Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d’Armement) on behalf of the DGA (French armament procurement agency).

Under the project management of DCNS, the heavily-armed FREMM frigates are equipped with the most effective weapon systems and equipment, such as the Herakles multifunctional radar, the naval cruise missile, the Aster and Exocet MM 40 missiles and the MU 90 torpedoes
Under the project management of DCNS, the heavily-armed FREMM frigates are equipped with the most effective weapon systems and equipment, such as the Herakles multifunctional radar, the naval cruise missile, the Aster and Exocet MM 40 missiles and the MU 90 torpedoes

Delivery of the FREMM multi-mission frigate D654 Auvergne is the result of a design and construction process managed by DCNS in close cooperation with the French Navy, DGA and OCCAR teams.

This technological and industrial success employed many DCNS sites and its partners and subcontractors to ensure compliance with the industrial milestones, in particular the launching in September 2015 and the first sea outing in September 2016.

«The delivery of the FREMM Auvergne represents an opportunity to applaud the industrial and technological prowess of DCNS and its subcontractors. The frigate Auvergne illustrates our capacity to produce and deliver on time a series of front-line combat vessels to satisfy the needs of our client navies», indicates Nicolas Gaspard, director of the FREMM programme at DCNS.

On completion, the FREMM programme will represent the construction of ten vessels on the DCNS Lorient site, of which eight for the French Navy. Six FREMM would have been delivered to the French Navy before end of 2019, in accordance with the 2014-2019 military programming law. DCNS is currently completing the FREMM D655 Bretagne, which was floated on 16 September 2016, and is pursuing the assembly of the FREMM D656 Normandie. Furthermore, work has already started on the ninth FREMM in the series, the D657 Alsace, which will be one of the two FREMMs with strengthened anti-aircraft capacities, whose deliveries are scheduled before 2022.

 

Characteristics

Total length 466 feet/142 m
Width 65.6 feet/20 m
Displacement 6,000 tonnes
Maximum speed 27 knots/31 mph/50 km/h
Operation 108 persons (including helicopter detachment)
Accommodation capacity 145 men and women
Cruising range at 15 knots/17 mph/28 km/h 6,000 nautical miles/6,905 miles/11,112 km

 

Navy

The Sixth FREMM

DCNS has floated the French Navy’s FREMM multi-mission frigate Auvergne in Lorient. The achievement took place on 2 September and marks an important step in the construction of the most modern front-line ship of the 21st century. The FREMM D654 Auvergne is the sixth frigate in the programme and fourth of the series ordered by OCCAR (l’Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement – Organization for Joint Armament) on behalf of the DGA (the French defence procurement agency) for the French Navy.

Auvergne, seen here as it floats out of the building hall in Lorient, is the sixth FREMM frigate built by DCNS, which is building another three for the French navy
Auvergne, seen here as it floats out of the building hall in Lorient, is the sixth FREMM frigate built by DCNS, which is building another three for the French navy

With three FREMMs currently under construction in DCNS’ Lorient site, DCNS is accelerating the production speed in order to deliver six FREMMs to the French Navy before mid-2019. Two additional frigates equipped with strengthened anti-aircraft capacities will be delivered before 2022. Two further units have also been sold to international clients: The Royal Moroccan Navy and the Egyptian Navy.

«The floating of the FREMM Auvergne, after the delivery of the FREMM Tahya Misr to the Egyptian Navy and the delivery of the FREMM Provence in June, demonstrate DCNS’s ability to successfully achieve a serial production», explains Anne Bianchi, FREMM Programme Director at DCNS. «DCNS is doing everything in its power to satisfy its clients, the OCCAR, the DGA and the French Navy by delivering these last six frigates before mid-2019».

DCNS commenced construction of the FREMM Auvergne in August 2012. This new-generation frigate will be operated by an optimized crew of 108 (half that required for the frigates of the previous generation). Delivery of the FREMM Aquitaine, the first multi-mission frigate to be built for the French Navy, was taken by OCCAR on 23 November 2012 on behalf of the DGA.

OCCAR: the Organisation for Joint Armaments Operations, is an international organisation whose core-business is the through-life management of cooperative defence equipment programmes entrusted to it by the Member States. It ensures, amongst other things, the project management for the multi-mission frigates intended for France and Italy
OCCAR: the Organisation for Joint Armaments Operations, is an international organisation whose core-business is the through-life management of cooperative defence equipment programmes entrusted to it by the Member States. It ensures, amongst other things, the project management for the multi-mission frigates intended for France and Italy

 

Four surface ships currently being produced at DCNS Lorient

The floating of the FREMM Auvergne is being celebrated while the FREMM programme is progressing at an accelerated speed on the DCNS site in Lorient. Three FREMM frigates are currently under construction for the French Navy. The Lorient teams are also mobilized for the construction of the first GOWIND corvette for the Egyptian Navy.

FREMM technical characteristics

Under the project management of DCNS, the heavily armed FREMM frigates are equipped with the most effective weapon systems and hardware, such as the Héraclès multifunctional radar, the Naval Cruise Missile, the Aster and Exocet MM 40 missiles and the MU 90 torpedoes.

DCNS commenced construction of the FREMM Auvergne in August 2012
DCNS commenced construction of the FREMM Auvergne in August 2012

 

Characteristics

Total length 466 feet/142 m
Width 65.6 feet/20 m
Displacement 6,000 tonnes
Maximum speed 27 knots/31 mph/50 km/h
Operation 108 persons (including helicopter detachment)
Accommodation capacity 145 men and women
Range at 15 knots/17 mph/28 km/h 6,000 nautical miles/6,905 miles/11,112 km