| |
NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Paris, Ile-de-France, France, 2015/10/07 - The FREMM Languedoc, the third frigate of the series for the French Navy, made its first sea outing - DCNSgroup.com.
|
| |
This industrial milestone marks the start of the vessel’s sea trials, which will take place off the coast of Brittany. With three FREMM multi-mission frigates currently under construction on the Lorient site, DCNS will have delivered six FREMMs to the French Navy before mid-2019, in accordance with the Military Programming Law 2015-2019, as well as two FREMMs for the export market.
DCNS has now completed the first sea outing of the FREMM Languedoc on the Lorient site, the third of the series of vessels ordered by OCCAR* on behalf of the DGA (French Defence Procurement Agency) and the French Navy. During this first sea outing, the main objective was to test the performance of the vessel’s propulsion and navigation system.
The FREMM Languedoc will benefit from a significant reduction in the duration of its sea trials compared to the previous FREMMs: six weeks instead of the previous eight. This optimised trial duration illustrates the transition to “series mode” for the multi-mission frigates.
DCNS teams and those of its partners were thus able to capitalise on the experience acquired with the FREMMs already delivered to proceed with the integration of the combat system’s sensors and weapons before the FREMM Languedoc’s first sea outing. This streamlining of the scheduling allows an optimisation of the duration and number of sea outings for the frigate and therefore, in the end, a reduction in the total time required for vessel trials.
“The acceleration of the trial scheduling for the FREMM Languedoc is a demonstration of DCNS capacity to ensure efficient serial production”, explains Anne Bianchi, Director of the FREMM Programme at DCNS.
Eight FREMMs built on the DCNS Lorient site by 2019
In the medium term, the FREMM programme will involve for DCNS the construction of ten frigates, eight of them for the French Navy. Six of these will be delivered by 2019 and two frigates equipped with strengthened anti-aircraft capacities will be delivered before 2022. Two further units have been sold and delivered to international clients: the Royal Moroccan Navy and the Egyptian Navy.
• The FREMM Aquitaine, first in series, delivered in 2012.
• The FREMM Mohammed VI, delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy in 2014.
• The FREMM Provence delivered in June 2015.
• The FREMM Tahya Misr, delivered to the Egyptian Navy in June 2015.
• The FREMM Languedoc, which is conducting its first sea outing.
• The FREMM Auvergne, which was floated on 2 September.
• The FREMM Bretagne, for which the assembly is ongoing.
Technical characteristics of the FREMMs
Under the project management of DCNS (dcnsgroup.com), 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.
• Length overall: 142 meters
• Width: 20 meters
• Displacement: 6,000 tonnes
• Maximum speed: 27 knots
• Crew: 108 persons (helicopter detachment included)
• Accommodation capacity: 145 persons
• Range: 6,000 nautical miles at 15 knots
*OCCAR: Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation is an international organisation whose core-business is the through-life management of cooperative defence equipment programmes entrusted to it by the Member States. Amongst other things, OCCAR ensures the contracting of FREMM multi-mission frigates for France and Italy.
Contact: Emmanuel Gaudez
P: +33(0)1 40 59 55 69 / +33(0)6 61 97 36 63
E: emmanuel.gaudez[.]dcnsgroup.com.
|
Alix.donnelly[.]dcnsgroup.com 
