French Navy upgrade and discussion

In Pics: Inside French warship Chevalier Paul​

WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal was onboard the giant French warship and clicked exclusive pictures as he spoke to the sailors and commander of the ship.
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FNS Chevalier Paul​

FNS Chevalier Paul, a Horizon-class air defence destroyer is currently deployed in the Indian Ocean as part of France’s permanent military presence in the region.

As part of this deployment, it is making a port call at Mumbai on November 18-19, and later at Kochi, marking Indo-French naval cooperation and the central role that India plays in France’s naval presence and strategy in the Indian Ocean.

WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal was onboard the giant French warship and clicked exclusive pictures as he spoke to the sailors and commander of the ship.
(Photograph:WION)

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Chevalier Paul: Horizon-class air defence destroyer​

On April 25-27, 2021, France and India held their 19th “Varuna” bilateral exercise with large-scale drills in the western Arabian Sea with the participation of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its entire carrier strike group.

2021 also saw India’s maiden participation in the French-led “La Pérouse” naval exercise that brings together the US, Australian and Japanese Navies.

The Horizon-class air defence destroyer, Chevalier Paul, was commissioned by the French Navy in 2011. A versatile ship specializing in air defence and control, its main missions are the escort and protection of a carrier strike group or of an amphibious task force, but it can be employed for a variety of other tasks. It carries a crew of 215, 15% of whom are women.
(Photograph:WION)
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Chevalier Paul equipped with Exocet anti-ship missiles​

Chevalier Paul's main weapons system, the PAAMS (Principal Anti-Air Missile System) is made of a 3D detection capability combined with EMPAR fire control radar and ASTER 30 anti-air missiles, ensuring a 360° protection at a distance of 100 kilometres against aircraft and 30 kilometres against anti-ship missiles.

Exocet anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine torpedoes and several guns are also embarked on the destroyer. FNS Chevalier Paul can also carry a multi-role military helicopter.
(Photograph:WION)
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Kitchen inside Chevalier Paul​

Earlier this year, the French warship Chevalier Paul had taken part in the 19th Indo-French “Varuna” naval exercise as part of the French carrier strike group.

Maritime cooperation between France and India goes back several decades - the first joint Varuna naval exercise took place in 1983 - and has intensified in recent years with increasingly ambitious joint exercises that have raised their degree of interoperability to a new level.

In 2018, during the State Visit of President Emmanuel Macron to India, France and India concluded an agreement for reciprocal logistics support between French and Indian armed forces, which provides mutual access to military bases, including naval ports. Naval cooperation plays a key role in the two countries’ joint vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

(Photograph:WION)
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India-France defence cooperation​

Ahead of its port call in Mumbai, the Chevalier Paul took part in a large-scale Indo-French air and naval exercise on 16-17 November off the coast of Maharashtra.

This exercise brought together 16 Indian and French aircraft, including French Mirage 2000 and Rafale jets from the Abu Dhabi airbase, as well as the Chevalier Paul destroyer. It aimed to simulate a highly complex air attack and defence scenario.

(Photograph:WION)

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Chevalier Paul: Horizon-class air defence destroyer​

On April 25-27, 2021, France and India held their 19th “Varuna” bilateral exercise with large-scale drills in the western Arabian Sea with the participation of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its entire carrier strike group.

2021 also saw India’s maiden participation in the French-led “La Pérouse” naval exercise that brings together the US, Australian and Japanese Navies.

The Horizon-class air defence destroyer, Chevalier Paul, was commissioned by the French Navy in 2011. A versatile ship specializing in air defence and control, its main missions are the escort and protection of a carrier strike group or of an amphibious task force, but it can be employed for a variety of other tasks. It carries a crew of 215, 15% of whom are women.

(Photograph:WION)
 
Naval News, dec.21 by Xavier Vavasseur.

French Navy FREMM Frigates “Hook” US Navy ASW Award, Again​

The French Navy (Marine Nationale) FREMM Frigates FS Provence and FS Languedoc won the U.S. Navy's "Hook'em" award. This is the third time (and the second year in a row) that the U.S. 6th Fleet awards the price to French units for their ability to find and track submarines.


The “Hook’em Award” rewards Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) excellence. It is presented quarterly to a unit supporting U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet (also known as US Naval Forces Europe) which has demonstrated superior ASW readiness, proficiency, and operational impact.

Vice Adm. Frederick C. Turner established the “Hook ‘Em” award in December 1975 to recognize 6th Fleet’s ships, submarines, and aircraft squadrons demonstrating ASW excellence. The award was discontinued two decades later, but it was reestablished by Adm. James G. Foggo III in 2016 during his tenure as Commander, US 6th Fleet.

In 2021, Admiral Eugene Black, Commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet based in Naples, has rewarded three French units: CTF 473, FS Provence and FS Languedoc.

The two Aquitaine-class FREMM frigates, operating under the tactical command of CTF 473 have demonstrated their excellence in ASW, as observed by the U.S. Navy during joint maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea in recent months.

Last year, French CTF 470 and 473 and French frigates FS Bretagne (D-655) and FS Auvergne (D-654) earned the recognition. Back in 1991, the 21F flotilla, stationed at Nîmes-Garons naval air base and flying Atlantique Maritime Patrol Aircraft won the award.


About Aquitaine-class FREMM Frigates​

According to the French Armament General Directorate (DGA), FREMM, designed and developed by Naval Group, is a stealth, versatile and enduring surface combatant with advanced automation. Its main missions are the control of a zone of maritime operation, anti surface (ASuW) and anti submarine (ASW) warfare, precision deep strike with naval cruise missile (it is the only class of NATO vessel in Europe with the capability to launch land attack cruise missiles from surface vessels), the deployment and support of special forces…

The FREMM can deploy the Caiman Marine (NH90 NFH) maritime helicopter, with unmatched ASW capabilities thanks to its FLASH dipping sonar and MU90 torpedoes. The FREMM-Caiman combo represents a cability gap in terms of ASW. The FREMM is also equipped with the Zodiac Milpro Ecume, the new tactical boat for naval special forces.

In 2030, the French Navy will have fifteen first-line frigates including 8 FREMM, 2 air defense destroyers (Horizon-class) and 5 new generation FDI (Defense and Intervention Frigates). There are 6 FREMM in ASW configuration: Aquitaine, Provence, Languedoc, Auvergne, Bretagne and Normandie. Alsace and Lorraine, the last two FREMMs, feature enhanced air defense capabilities and are known as FREMM DA.



FREMM frigates main specifications
Heavily armed, the Normandie FREMM deploys the most effective equipment and weapon systems, integrating the SETIS software as well as the Herakles multi-function radar and CAPTAS-4 variable depth sonar, the naval cruise missile (NCM), the Aster and Exocet MM40 missiles and MU 90 torpedoes.

  • Overall length: 142 metres
  • Width: 20 metres
  • Displacement: 6,000 tonnes
  • Max. speed: 27 knots
  • Implementation: 123 persons (among whom 14 dedicated to the helicopter detachment)
  • Endurance: 45 days

About CAPTAS-4 VDS
Designed and produced by Thales, the CAPTAS-4 (for Combined Active and Passive Towed Array Sonar, also known as S2087) equips first rank ASW frigates such as the Royal Navy Type 23 and Type 26 frigates, the French Navy FREMM and FDI frigates, the Italian FREMMs, the Spanish F110 frigates, and the Chilean T-23…

CAPTAS-4 brings unrivalled performance against quiet submarines to achieve any ASW missions including escort, area sanitization and own force protection. It enables surface vessels to hunt submarines at considerable distances and detect them beyond the range from which they can launch an attack.



The case for the U.S. Navy to look closely at the CAPTAS-4 ?
The Royal Navy and Marine Nationale both operate the Thales FLASH dipping sonar from their helicopters and the CAPTAS-4. ASW experts from both navies have described the combination of the two sonars as ‘world beating’. The U.S. Navy is an existing user of the FLASH dipping sonar (known locally as the ALFS). The CAPTAS-4 was initially selected by the U.S. Navy to meet the ASW escort mission requirement for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). But in the end, a new variable depth sonar design by Raytheon and GeoSpectrum was selected. The design is said to have faced issues during its integration with the LCS. With this in mind, and yet another “Hook’em award” for two CAPTAS-4 equiped-ship, maybe the US Navy will consider the Thales VDS for its own FREMM: the Constellation-class / FFG(X) ?
 
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Unable to continue his landing, the pilot had to abort his approach and stand by at altitude.

The crew then used the aircraft's sensors, in particular its high definition day/night camera, to pinpoint the origin of the light beam. This enabled them to identify the individual and record evidence of the crime. While still in the air, the sky marines transmitted these elements to the police officers of the Lorient police station, who quickly arrested the malevolent person and confiscated his equipment. A complaint has been lodged and an investigation is underway by the maritime police.
 
«… sea, space, and cyberspace are linked (via satellites and data cables) and [that] the adversaries will use violence to control these domains…»


January31. The Future Of The French Navy – CSIS Conversation With ADM. Vandier (French Navy Chief of Staff)​

 
«… sea, space, and cyberspace are linked (via satellites and data cables) and [that] the adversaries will use violence to control these domains…»


January31. The Future Of The French Navy – CSIS Conversation With ADM. Vandier (French Navy Chief of Staff)​


Gotta double, mate, gotta double.
 
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Seabed Management Strategy of the Ministry of Defence: read the full file

The Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, together with the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Thierry Burkhard, presented on Monday 14 February 2022 a strategy aimed at extending the anticipation and action capabilities of the French Navy to a depth of 6,000 metres.

The seabed is a new field of conflict just like outer space, cyberspace and the information sphere.

With the second largest exclusive economic zone in the world, France wants to be able to guarantee the freedom of action of its forces and to protect its sovereignty, resources and infrastructures even in the depths of the ocean.

Maritime spaces are governed by a body of international norms, foremost among which is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The UNCLOS states that the rights of states diminish the further from the coast one moves. In recent years, however, some states have developed extensive interpretations of the Convention, for the purpose of appropriating resources (mineral, biological or fossil) or maritime spaces in the light of the geopolitical situation in the area.

Faced with these assertions of power, the resurgence of hybrid actions in the seabed and the emergence of the concept of seabed control, the protection of our strategic interests in this area is a key issue for :

1/ Guarantee the freedom of action of our forces in the face of surveillance and underwater interdiction strategies potentially deployed from the seabed;

2/ Protecting our underwater infrastructures such as communication and energy transport cables (electricity, gas, oil);

3/ Protecting our resources. France's immense maritime territory is home to biodiversity and resources that must be known and, above all, protected;

4/ Be ready to act and pose a credible threat in the face of diverse, evolving and hybrid modes of action.

Seabed Control Operations (SCMO) aim to integrate these new challenges into our defence strategy. This doctrine will be based on three functions: "know", "monitor" and "act".

The French Navy already has mine warfare and hydro-oceanography capabilities to help control the seabed. However, in order to extend its investigation and action capabilities to a depth of 6,000 metres, France is going to acquire deep-sea exploratory military capabilities, consisting of underwater drones and robots.

Fully in line with the ambition for the deep sea, supported by the "France 2030" investment plan, this strategy of the Ministry of the Armed Forces will make it possible to support the development of innovation and the emergence of a national sector meeting its needs in the deep sea.
 
France is preparing the induction of the first military quantic detector for the navy :
What if the French Navy was the first in the world to use quantum technology
The French Navy could be the first in the world to use second-generation quantum technology. It will be equipped with a quantum gravimeter developed by ONERA.

The Giraffe quantum gravimeter has been successfully tested on the hydro-oceanographic vessel Beautemps-Beaupré
The Girafe quantum gravimeter has been successfully tested on the hydro-oceanographic vessel Beautemps-Beaupré (Credits: French Navy)
The French Navy could be the first navy in the world to be equipped with operational systems based on a new generation of quantum technology. It will be equipped with the GIRAFE (Gravimetric Research Interferometer with Embedded Cold Atoms) system developed by ONERA. By 2026/2027, four Navy surface ships will be equipped with cold atom quantum gravimeters (GIRAFE), ONERA CEO Bruno Sainjon revealed at the inauguration (Feb. 8) of a new cross-functional laboratory dedicated to quantum technologies, called QTech, and led by ONERA.

"This makes the Navy one of the first armies in the world to have operational systems based on this new-generation quantum technology, if we're being pessimistic, and if we're being optimistic, perhaps the first army in the world," said Bruno Sainjon.

ONERA is a key player in quantum technology
If we still needed to be convinced of ONERA's strategic technological role within the French Ministry of the Army and the French technological and industrial ecosystem, this new concrete example should remove any remaining doubts. "We feel legitimate" in the field of quantum technology, said ONERA's CEO at the inauguration. The QTech laboratory is structured around four thematic areas: quantum communications, quantum optronics, quantum computing and atomic sensors. The first results are expected in quantum optics rather than quantum radar," said Bruno Sainjon in June 2021 at the Paris Air Forum, organized by La Tribune. With quantum lidar type technologies, we should be able to design interesting projects more quickly.

More generally, the Ministry of the Armed Forces is at the forefront of quantum technology one year after Emmanuel Macron launched France's quantum strategy (1.8 billion euros over five years). Because these applications are potentially revolutionary for the armed forces. For example, in early January the French Minister of the Army, Florence Parly, participated in the launch of a new national quantum computing platform installed at the Atomic Energy Commission's Very Large Computing Center. This investment contributes to France's technological sovereignty and benefits the armed forces.

Gravimeters already tested by the Navy
After developing and testing this gravimeter in cooperation with the French Navy's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOM), ONERA will transfer all of its know-how to Muquans (iXblue group), a technology SME based in Talence, in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of France, which specializes in the production of static atomic gravimeters. This quantum gravimeter allows, among other things, to map the oceans with an incredible accuracy (eighth digit after the decimal point). This will allow military and civilian ships to know exactly where they are.

In addition, the arrival in the Navy of this autonomous system that does not require dockside recalibration operations will allow the military to free themselves from the American GPS or European Galileo satellite positioning systems, which can be jammed. Finally, this technology is essential for the planning and conduct of maritime and aeronautical operations. Other applications include geophysics of ocean areas, submarine exploration (ore, oil), gravity mapping, and navigation without GPS. ONERA is also working on airborne and space applications.

More than 15 years of investment in quantum technology
In 2006, the French defense procurement agency (DGA) entrusted ONERA with the development of a Giraffe quantum gravimeter through the CA-SENSORS technology project program. Then the Research Office developed in 2012 a first device, whose accuracy reached 10-8 to 10-9 g in the laboratory. A success that allowed the launch of the development and design of an embarkable prototype, capable of erasing the disturbances of swell and vibrations, to meet the needs of the Navy. In 2016, ONERA and SHOM successfully carried out two gravity mapping campaigns off the coast of Brest with a gravimeter using quantum technology.

In September 2020, ONERA was notified by the DGA of a contract worth 13 million euros for the development and supply of a Girafe 2 system (to be operated by the SHOM). The first objective of the contract is the industrialization of the prototype developed by ONERA and the realization of the first system, shared between the Research Office and Muquans as a subcontractor. The ministry could order three other systems. The first gravimeter should be validated at sea in 2023, then delivered to the Navy, while the three systems could be delivered at a rate of one per year.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 
The Gravimeter witch could perfectly been installed in a Atlantic NG for exemaple ?

 
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