The Perle nuclear submarine with a "sewn" part from the Saphir submarine has been launched. Yesterday, October 26, the portal navalnews.com He reported that the Naval Group company has completed the assembly of the hull and is preparing to continue the overhaul of the Rubis-type submarine.
The Perle submarine caught fire last year during repair work at the shipyard of the naval base in Toulon. The fire, which raged for 14 hours, significantly damaged the bow of the submarine. In order to restore it, the French Defense Ministry decided to use parts of the Saphir submarine, decommissioned in 2019.
SSN Perle submarine after joining the bow from the submarine Saphir
Image source: navalnews.com
In the spring of this year, the intact stern of the Perle was cut off from the damaged bow, and then welded to the front of the submarine Saphir. Now the submarine has been launched and will be returned to the military base in Toulon to continue major repairs. It is planned that next year the SSN Perle submarine will be tested and will return to combat duty from 2023.
Rubis - type submarines are nuclear - powered vessels with a displacement of 2,600 tons . A total of 6 submarines out of 8 planned were built for the French Navy. Submarines of this type are the smallest nuclear-powered submarines in the world. Their length is less than 74 m with a body width of 7.6 m . The armament of each of the submarines consists of four 550 mm torpedo tubes, through which mines are also installed and Exocet cruise missiles are launched.
