France will receive four new nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles
France has embarked on a programme of building nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles of the third generation. The Navy will transfer four ships, which, according to the declared characteristics, will be distinguished by a high degree of security. However, Paris will have to wait a long time for the final installation of these submarines into service.
Four new submarines, known as SNLE (sous-marin nucléaire lanceur d'engin), are expected to replace the French Le Triomphant-class submarines currently in service with the French Navy, Defense News reports.
As the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, Florence Parly, said, this will happen "without a pause." She also said the new submarines will be "slightly longer and heavier" than the current class of Le Triomphant strategic missile submarines, which first went to sea in 1995 and will continue to serve in combat until 2050. The head of the military department added that the new submarines "will have better hearing and better protection during the voyage."
The new French submarines were ordered by the Directorate General for Armaments ( DGA), an agency within the French Ministry of Defense that provides troops with weapons and military equipment, and the Commissariat for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy Sources of France.
The project will be managed by Naval Group and TechnicAtome. The latter is the general contractor for the construction of a nuclear power plant.
Naval Group (formerly DCNS) is a French state - owned defense company engaged in the construction of warships. It is Europe's largest military shipbuilding association and one of the world's leading exporters of naval equipment.
Thales, an international industry group that manufactures information systems for aerospace, military, and maritime applications, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with DGA to develop a complete set of sonar systems for boats, " based on revolutionary technologies that represent a significant breakthrough compared to the systems used today."
The company will provide a new generation of side-view sonar and bow sonar; a towed linear array based on optical technologies; as well as interception systems, echo sounders and underwater communication equipment. Thales said that the new sonar package will be implemented gradually, with the first versions being installed on SNLES that are in the fleet's combat fleet.
The French navy is expected to receive the first submarine in 2035, with the remaining three on schedule every five years.
Florence Parley said that the submarines will be in service until 2090.
The French Defense minister noted that, given the extraordinary length of this program, the country "will retain the margin for evolution in design necessary to account for technological breakthroughs that we cannot predict today - I mean, in particular, cyber defense, improvements in acoustics, stealth, and the development of more efficient sensors."
Florence Parly announced the launch of this large-scale program at the DGA Hydrodynamic Technology Center in Val de Rey. Over the past 60 years, all the submarines of the French Navy have been designed and modernized in this center. And it has been working on the third generation of SNLE for more than a decade.
"15 million hours have already been spent on development, and another 20 million will be needed for each submarine," the French Armed Forces minister said.
The Minister also noted that in a few weeks the DGA will celebrate its 60th anniversary. "The world has undergone profound changes since 1961," said Florence Parley, " but if the ways of waging war are no longer the same, the ways of maintaining peace will continue. As the French President confirmed in February 2020, nuclear deterrence has been and remains the cornerstone of our security and the guarantee of our vital interests."
She noted that 2021 also marks the 50th anniversary of the permanent combat patrol of French nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles. Florence Parley compared the mission to "a launch pad, a real underwater Kourou (space base in French Guiana) with 16 missiles ready to launch, where everything is integrated into a combat submarine controlled by a nuclear power plant."
As I recalled in a conversation with " Gazeta.En " Deputy Director of the Center for Strategies and Technologies Konstantin Makiyenko, currently the naval component of the strategic nuclear forces of France includes the 3rd squadron of the SSARB with four submarines of the Le Triomphant type: Le Triomphant, Le Téméraire, Le Vigilant, Le Terrible.
The average duration of a French submarine cruise is about 60 days. Each combat-ready SSB is armed with 16 M-51 SLBMs. In total, the group of French SSBNs is armed with 48 SLBMs and 288 nuclear warheads (300 taking into account the available reserve).
The M-51 SLBM has a maximum firing range of 8 thousand km, and the starting mass of the product is 56 tons. The head of the missile is equipped with six nuclear warheads.
The United Kingdom is also in the process of modernizing its naval strategic nuclear forces. In 2016, the British House of Commons approved a plan for the Trident program to build new nuclear-powered missile submarines.
Currently, the strategic nuclear forces (SNF) of the United Kingdom are represented by the naval component-the 1st submarine squadron, which includes four Vanguard-type SSBNs equipped with Trident-2 ballistic missiles for submarines (16 missiles with a separable head with individual guidance units, capable of carrying up to eight warheads with a capacity of 0.1-0.15 Mt). The maximum firing range of a missile depends on the number of warheads installed on it and is up to 10,500 km with three warheads, and up to 11,500 km with one warhead. The British government intends to replace the Vanguard with new Successor - class SSBNs by 2030.
The lead boat Vanguard (in translation - "Vanguard") was commissioned in 1994, the second, "Victorias", - in 1995, the third, "Vigilent", - in 1998, the fourth, "Vangens", - in 2001. Their established service life is 30 years. Each boat has a missile bay with 16 launch silos.
As in France, nuclear weapons are seen by the UK as a factor that can deter countries that sponsor terrorism and force any State to refrain from transferring nuclear weapons into the hands of terrorists. Nuclear deterrence has been and remains the cornerstone of the security of Paris and London.
Mikhail Khodarenok
