Triomphant-class submarine

The Triomphant class of ballistic missile submarines of the French Navy is the active lead boat class of four boats that entered service in 1997, 1999, 2004, and 2010. These four superseded the older Redoutable class, and they provide the ocean-based component (the Force océanique stratégique) of France's nuclear deterrent strike force, the Force de dissuasion (deterrence force). Their home port is Île Longue, Roadstead of Brest, Western Brittany.

Le Téméraire
Class overview
NameTriomphant class
BuildersDCNS
Operators French Navy
Preceded byRedoutable class
Succeeded bySNLE 3G[1]
Cost
  • €17.1 billion (2009) for 4 units
  • €3.1 billion (2009)[2] for Le Terrible
Built1986–2010
In commission1997–present
Planned4
Completed4
Active4
General characteristics
TypeBallistic missile submarine
Displacement
  • 12,640 tonne (surfaced)
  • 14,335 tonne (submerged)
Length138 m (453 ft)
Beam12.50 m (41.0 ft)
Draught10.60 m (34.8 ft)
Propulsion
  • K15 pressurized water reactor 150 MWth, LEU 7%;[3] with turboreductor pump-to-shaft system of 30,5 MW
  • Power : 30,519 kW (40,927 hp)
  • two emergency diesel-powered generators SEMT Pielstick 8PA4V200 SM (700 kW (940 hp)) auxiliaries.
SpeedOver 25 kn (46 km/h)
RangeUnlimited distance; 20–25 years
Test depthOver 400 m (1,300 ft)
Complement
  • 15 officers
  • 96 sailors
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Sonar DMUX 80
  • Sonar DUUX 5
  • Sonar DSUV 61B Very Low Frequency
  • Racal Decca radar (navigation)
  • SCC : SET (Système d'exploitation Tactique) : tactical operational system
Electronic warfare
& decoys		ARUR 13
Armament

Design and construction

The first three boats were originally armed with the French-produced and armed M45 intermediate-range missile, and the fourth vessel, Le Terrible, tested and is equipped with the more advanced M51 missile.[4] Each of the first three boats were retrofitted to the M51 missile standard, with the last M45 offloaded in 2016.[8]

Next Generation Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine
Not to be confused with SNLE 3G.

In French, these are called Sous-Marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins de Nouvelle Génération (English: "Next Generation Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine"), abbreviated as SNLE-NG. They have replaced all of the Redoutable-class boats, with the last of those six boats being decommissioned in 2008. These submarines carry 16 submarine-launched ballistic missile launching tubes apiece.

This class reportedly produces approximately 1/1000 of the detectable noise of the Redoutable-class boats (submarine), and they are ten times more sensitive in detecting other submarines.[9] Initially armed with the M45 missile, they are designed to carry the new M51 missile, which entered active service in 2010. As of October 2010, an M51 has been test-fired from one of these submarines across the Atlantic Ocean from near France to the west, and is equipped on Le Terrible.

These boats were all constructed by the DCNS, and they carry an armament of 16 M45 SLBM or M51 SLBM missiles manufactured by the Aérospatiale company (now Airbus Defence and Space), plus conventional torpedoes and Exocet anti-ship missiles.

List of submarines

The French Navy's goal is to operate a force of four ballistic missile submarines (comparable with the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class submarines), of which two are expected to be on patrol at any given time.

NameConstruction beganLaunchedCommissioned
Le Triomphant9 June 198626 March 199421 March 1997
Le Téméraire18 December 199321 January 199823 December 1999
Le VigilantJanuary 199619 September 200326 November 2004
Le Terrible24 October 200021 March 200820 September 2010[10]

Service history

On 3 February or 4 February 2009, Le Triomphant collided with the Royal Navy submarine HMS Vanguard; the Royal Navy boat received damage to the outer casing in the area of the missile compartment on the starboard (right) side and suffered very visible dents and scrapes.[11] Le Triomphant was reported to have proceeded to Brest under her own power, submerged, but with damage to her active sonar dome under her bow.[11]

See also

References
  1. "SNLE de 3è génération : la mise en chantier prévue pour 2023". Corlobe. 26 October 2018.
  2. "French Audit Report Reveals Weapon Prices, A400M Details". Defence-aerospace. 18 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  3. "Examination of the U.S. Navy Proposed Conversion of the Nuclear Fleet from Highly Enriched Uranium to Low Enriched Uranium" (PDF). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  4. "La marine française met un quatrième sous-marin nucléaire en service". AFP. Retrieved 7 January 2020 – via Google news.
  5. "IA M51 : Chape de plomb sur le nucléaire". Mer et Marine. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  6. Kristensen, Hans. "France" (PDF). Assuring Destruction Forever: Nuclear Weapon Modernization Around the World. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Retrieved 11 April 2013 – via FAS.
  7. Reif, Kingston (8 December 2009). "Nuclear weapons: The modernization myth". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  8. Kristensen, Hans; Korda, Matt (7 January 2019). "French nuclear forces, 2019". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 75 (Special Issue: Spotlight on Nuclear Modernization): 51–55. Bibcode:2019BuAtS..75a..51K. doi:10.1080/00963402.2019.1556003. S2CID 151142543.
  9. "Le Triomphant". Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  10. "Le Terrible entre en service actif". Ministry of Defense (France). 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  11. "Nuclear subs collide in Atlantic". BBC News. 16 February 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
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