Triomphant-class submarine

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Temeraire1048.jpg
Le Téméraire
Class overview
NameTriomphant class
BuildersDCNS
Operators French Navy
Preceded by Redoutable class
Succeeded bySNLE 3G[2]
Cost
  • €17.1 billion (2009) for 4 units
  • €3.1 billion (2009)'[1] for 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
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

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 These four superseded the older Redoutable class, and they provide the ocean-based component (the Force océanique stratégique) of France's nuclear deterrent strike force, the Force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 Frappe. Their home port is Île Longue, Roadstead of Brest, Western Brittany.

Design and construction[]

The first three boats are all armed with the French-produced and armed M45 intermediate-range missile, and the fourth vessel, Terrible, has tested and is equipped with the more advanced M51 missile.[5] Each of the first three boats are to be retrofitted to the M51 missile standard, starting with Vigilant in 2010, then Triomphant, and ending with Téméraire in 2018.[6]

SNLE-NG[]

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 (submarines), and they are ten times more sensitive in detecting other submarines.[7] 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 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.

Name Construction began Launched Commissioned
Le Triomphant 9 June 1986 26 March 1994 21 March 1997
Le Téméraire 18 December 1993 21 January 1998 23 December 1999
Le Vigilant January 1996 19 September 2003 26 November 2004
Le Terrible 24 October 2000 21 March 2008 20 September 2010[8]

Service history[]

On 3 February or 4 February 2009, Le Triomphant collided with the Royal Navy submarine HMS Vanguard; the Royal Navy boat suffered minor scrapes and scratches.[9] Le Triomphant was reported to have proceeded to Brest under her own power, submerged, but with extensive damage to her sonar dome.[10]

Gallery[]

  • Comparison of different nuclear systems: left, the SNLE (Redoutable type) with the M4 missile; right, the SNLE-NG (Triomphant type) with the M45 missile and the M51 missile.

  • Le Vigilant

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "French Audit Report Reveals Weapon Prices, A400M Details". defence-aerospace.com. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  2. ^ "SNLE de 3è génération : la mise en chantier prévue pour 2023". www.corlobe.tk. 26 October 2018.
  3. ^ "AFP: La marine française met un quatrième sous-marin nucléaire en service". Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "AFP: La marine française met un quatrième sous-marin nucléaire en service". Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "Le Triomphant". Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Nuclear subs collide in Atlantic". BBC News. 16 February 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  10. ^ Harding, Caroline Gammell and Thomas (16 February 2009). "British and French nuclear submarine collision 'as serious as sinking of Kursk'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 January 2020.

External links[]

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