The state and prospects of the French Navy
Although France is located on the continent, military construction in this country is much like the Anglo-Saxon, with the main focus not on the army, but on the navy. But as pioneers of aviation, the French are not indifferent to the Air Force. This was especially evident after the Second World War, after which Paris was artificially included among the main winners (" From the strange victory to "Rafale" and "Leclerc ").
It was not for nothing that Napoleon assembled a fleet in Toulon
The danger of direct ground aggression for the country has sharply decreased, so during the construction of the French Armed Forces, more and more attention was paid to the fleet. In the French Navy during this period, a number of ships that survived the Second World War were preserved. Some more of them were obtained as a result of the division of the German fleet, a significant number of ships were transferred to Paris by the Anglo-Saxons. By the mid-50s, the country had five aircraft carriers: own "Bearn", built before the war, "Dixmund" and "Arromanche", received from the UK, "Lafayette" and "Bellew", acquired in the United States.
Arromanche lived the longest of all of them (until the 70s). Six artillery cruisers of the Second World War remained in service, only two of them survived until the early 70s. All 16 French destroyers that survived the war were decommissioned in the 50s. However, in the same 50s, 12 destroyers of the Surcouf type were built, which remained in service until the mid-80s, and six destroyers of the Dupree type, which survived until the early 90s. All these ships initially carried only artillery and torpedo weapons, but in the course of modernization they were equipped with various missiles.
“ The concept of having only one aircraft carrier in the Navy turned out to be very dubious: more than half of the time it is parked or under repair, respectively, at this moment the fleet does not have an aircraft carrier at all ”
In the United States, eight Cannon-class frigates, up to 50 minesweepers, and more than 30 landing ships and boats were purchased. Another 15 minesweepers arrived from the UK, as well as four submarines. In France itself, six Narwhal-type submarines and four Arethusa-type submarines were built, and they remained in service until the 80s.
In the 60s, the French navy received 11 diesel submarines of the Dafne type, of which two were lost in disasters, the rest were written off in the 90s. As part of the Pakistan Navy, the Hangor submarine of this type sank the Indian frigate Khukri (British-built) in December 1971, which was the only success of a diesel submarine in the world for the entire period after 1945.
In the early 60s, the French Navy commissioned the aircraft carriers Clemenceau and Foch, which remained its largest warships until the beginning of the XXI century. Each aircraft carrier could carry up to 40 combat and auxiliary aircraft and helicopters. Both were decommissioned in the late 90's, "Clemenceau" scrapped, "Foch" sold to Brazil. At the same time, the training helicopter carrier "Jeanne D'Arc", which served until 2010, joined the French fleet. Finally, two destroyers of the Suffren type were built, which served until the early 2000s, nine frigates of the Commandant Riviere type, written off in the 80-90s, and two landing ships of the Uragan type, which were scrapped in the XXI century. In the United States, France purchased ship-based SAMs "Tartar" and "Standard", as well as various torpedoes, but the actual ships for its Navy now built only itself.
In the top five most powerful
The basis of the French nuclear forces in the 70s was five Redoubtable-type SSBNs (16 SLBMs each). The first two carried M1 and M2 SLBMs with a 500-kiloton G41 warhead. The following SSBNs (and then the first two) were equipped with M20 SLBMs with TN-60 and TN-61 warheads.
At the same time, the multi-purpose PLA were not built, instead, four diesel-powered Agosta-type submarines were put into operation, which served until the end of the 90s. The fleet also includes four destroyers ("Monkshood" and three "Tourville" type) and 17 frigates of the "D'estien D'orve" type (the series was completed in the 80's). All these ships were equipped with the Exocet RCC. These PCRs, which can be used as coastal, aviation and marine, are constantly being improved, are still produced in France, becoming one of its most successful military exports.
However, the destroyers initially carried the PLUR "Malafon", but the rocket was not too successful, and instead of it, "Exocets"were installed. In addition, frigates, corvettes and combat boats of various types were built for export in France, focused on the requirements of a specific customer. The most well-known export product can be considered missile boats of the "Combatant" family. Ship armament and various equipment (engines, radar, gas) were exported.
In the 80s, the Navy received the Enflexible SSB (the only one in its class) with 16 M4A SLBMs, each of which carried six TN-70 warheads (150 kt each). The M4V SLBM with six TN-71 warheads (also 150 kt each) received four Redutable-type SSBMS (except for the Redutable itself, which became a museum ship in the early 90s).
The French Navy in the 80s received six Rubis-type submarines, five of which remain in service until now. Seven Georges Lehi-class destroyers and two more almost similar Cassar-type destroyers with enhanced air defense were accepted into the fleet (the American Standard air defense system instead of the domestic Naval Crotal). As part of the pan-European Tripartite project, the Navy received 14 Eridani-class minesweepers, and four Vulcan-type minesweepers were also built. Most of these ships remain in service to this day. Finally, two Fudr-type DVKDs were built (sold to Chile and Brazil in the 2010s). The construction of ships and boats for export continued, the largest of which were four Medina-class frigates for the Saudi navy.
In the 1990s, the naval component of the French Strategic nuclear forces was completely updated by the construction of a series of four Triumphant-type SSBNs in 1989-2010, replacing all the earlier SSBNs. They were equipped with M45 SLBMs (range-6 thousand km, 6 TN-75 warheads with a capacity of 110 kt). Currently, all Triumfan-type SSBNs are replacing the M45 SLBM with the M51 with a range of up to 10 thousand kilometers, capable of carrying up to 10 TN-75 warheads.
The French Navy in the 90s received 11 new frigates (6 of the Floreal type, 5 of the Lafayette type) and three Antares-type minesweepers. The frigates, though large, complex, and expensive, were nevertheless successfully exported: two Floreals for Morocco, six Lafayettes each for Taiwan and Singapore, and three for Saudi Arabia.
The French Navy, replacing the PLARB, also intends to replace the Rubis-type PLA with new Barracuda-type PLA, and at the end of 2020, the Suffren head PLA was transferred to the fleet. The latest diesel submarine of the "Scorpen" type was created exclusively for export. It was purchased by Brazil, India (under license in both countries), Chile, and Malaysia. To replace the Foch and Clemenceau, the French Navy received the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which (theoretically) houses all the Rafale-M fighter-bombers (now there are 44 of them). However, the concept of having only one aircraft carrier in the Navy turned out to be very dubious: more than half of the time it is parked or under repair, respectively, at this moment the fleet does not have an aircraft carrier at all.
Nevertheless, to replace it, it is also planned to build one nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but much larger in size (comparable to the American "Nimitz").
France is implementing two warship projects in the twenty-first century jointly with Italy (" Asps" from the Apennines "). One of them in each country built two destroyers (in France-type "Forbin"). The second is the FREMM project, according to which ten Bergamini – type frigates will be built in Italy, and eight Aquitaine-type destroyers in France (originally 17 were planned to be built). One of the ships built for the French navy was sold to Egypt, and two more were specially built for the Moroccan Navy. Apparently, ships of this type will be built for the US Navy. The French Navy received three UDC type "Mistral". Two more such ships were built for Russia, but after the introduction of sanctions against it, they were resold to the same Egypt. One of the French " Mistrals "in 2011 participated in the fighting against Libya as a carrier of"Tiger" helicopters. France has also created a naval version of the "Scalp Naval" air missile with a range of up to a thousand kilometers (it can be used both from submarines and from surface ships).
The French Navy can now be considered the second largest in NATO after the US, but it is already very far from the main East Asian fleets. And it will go on and on.
Alexander Khramchikhin, independent military expert
The newspaper "Military-industrial Courier", published in issue No. 11 (874) for March 30, 2021
