The latest French nuclear submarine arrives in Brest for deep sea trials

By TOC On Jun 8, 2020

PARIS, (BM) – The Suffren multipurpose nuclear submarine, the first Barracuda nuclear submarine designed for the French Navy, arrived in Brest to conduct deep-sea tests, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.

Trials of the submarine at sea began in late April as BulgarianMilitary.com reported. Their first phase took place off the coast of Cherbourg, where the Naval Group shipyard, which built the submarine, is located. Here, the Suffren submarine carried out, in particular, static dives.

The transition to the Brest area is due to the fact that off the coast of Cherbourg it is too shallow to conduct deep-sea tests of the submarine, Naval News notes.

The next test phase is scheduled for late summer and will take place in the Toulon area. There, Suffren will test its weapons systems.

Multipurpose nuclear submarines of the Barracuda class should replace the Ryubi class submarines built in the 1980s as part of the French Navy. In 2006, the French government signed a contract with DCNS (now the Naval Group) to supply the national fleet with six nuclear submarines. The cost of the agreement was estimated at 8 billion euros.

Suffren was laid down in December 2007 and planned to be commissioned in 2016, but due to various problems, the construction dates had to be reviewed several times. In early August 2019, the Suffren was launched, and in December a nuclear reactor was launched on board the submarine.

Another five submarines of the Barracuda class are to be handed over to the French Navy by 2030.

BulgarianMilitary.com reference

The submarine displacement of the Barracuda-type submarines is 5300 tons (surface – 4700 tons), hull length – 99 meters, diameter – 8.8 meters. The maximum immersion depth is more than 350 meters, the speed under water is more than 25 knots. Autonomy – 50 days. The crew is 65 people. Also on board can accommodate up to 15 MTR fighters.

The Suffren submarine is equipped with four 533-mm vehicles for heavy-duty F21 torpedoes. The arsenal includes the upgraded SM-39 Exoset anti-ship missiles and Scalp Naval cruise missiles to destroy coastal infrastructure.

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Editorial team