TSAMTO, November 24. The Directorate General of Armaments of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces (DGA) announced the acceptance of the eighth FREMM frigate, Loraine, which is also the second ship of the series, made in the air defense version.
Like the first six FREMM frigates delivered to the French Navy, the last two have anti-submarine warfare capabilities. However, they are distinguished by improved capabilities in the field of air defense. Thus, frigates gain advantages thanks to an improved combat control system, an optimized mast called "wasp waist" and an increased radar detection range. The crew of the ship has also been increased by 10 people.
As reported by CAMTO, FREMM is the largest European program for the construction of multipurpose frigates, which has been jointly implemented by France and Italy since 2002 under the management of OCCAR (Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation). In total, 8 frigates of the series should be adopted by the French Navy. The first 6 ships were delivered in the anti-submarine version, the 7th and 8th frigates were built in the air defense version.
The frigates are designed to provide air defense and air defense of the ship's connection, the destruction of surface ships and high-precision strikes on ground targets deep in enemy territory with MdCN cruise missiles.
DCNS (now Naval Group) handed over to the French Navy the FREMM-class lead frigate, (D650) Akiten, on November 23, 2012. On June 12, 2015, the second frigate of the series, (D652) Provence, was transferred to the French navy, on March 16, 2016 – the third, (D653) Languedoc, on April 11, 2017 – the fourth, (D654) Auvergne, on July 18, 2018 – the fifth, (D655) "Brittany", July 16, 2019 – the sixth, (D651) "Normandy".
The seventh frigate of the series, Alsace, which is also the first in the air defense version, was transferred to the command of the French Navy on April 16, 2021 and officially adopted on November 22, 2021
The laying of the keel of the ship of the 8th frigate of the series, "Loraine", took place in May 2019. On November 13, 2020, it was launched.
After the completion of the FREMM-class ships, the fleet of the French Navy will be updated as part of the construction of new multi-purpose frigates FDI (Fregate de Defense et Intervention), the first of which will be delivered in 2024.
By 2030, the French Navy's surface fleet should consist of 15 frigates of the first rank, including 8 multipurpose frigates (FREMM), 2 Orion-class frigates and 5 FDI frigates.
The FREMM frigate in the air defense version is a ship with a length of 142 m, a width of 20 m and a total displacement of about 6040 tons. The CODLOG (COmbined Diesel eLectric Or Gas) type power plant, which includes an LM2500+G4 gas turbine, allows the ship to develop a cruising speed of 16 knots and a maximum speed of 27.5 knots. The frigate's range at a speed of 15 knots is about 6000 nautical miles, autonomy is 45 days, the crew is 119 people (+14 people in the air group). A total of 165 people can be accommodated on board. The frigate's armament consists of 76 mm AU, A43 "Silver" UVP with Aster-15 and Aster-30 missiles, PU with 8 MM-40 "Exocet" Block.3, four 12.7mm machine guns, 324 mm torpedo tubes with MU-90 torpedoes, two 20 mm remotely controlled Narwhal armament modules, the NH-90 Cayman helicopter. A multifunctional radar "Heracles" is installed on board.
