Euronival 2018 press tour
Today and tomorrow, the French mine action force is the mine hunter Cassiope and the first C-Sweep. Testing of the full prototype of the SLAMF system will begin next year.
The project ran from 24 to 28 September and included visits to companies located around Paris, Brest, Lorient and Nantes. The thematic coverage was wide - from surface ships and their weapons systems, through anti-mine combat, radar, optoelectronic and propulsion systems, to innovations that are the result of research and development, on which French companies, as well as the DGA that supports them, spend considerable resources every year. .
Unlike the previous tour in 2016, this time the French were eager to demonstrate progress in the development of ships of the basic classes and related systems. They also paid great attention to the implementation, in cooperation with the British, of the avant-garde mine action program SLAMF (Système de lutte antimines du futur). The reasons for this openness were also not hidden - representatives of the Ministry of Defense and Marine Nationale explained that these programs are a priority, in particular, in connection with the intensification of the activities of the Navy and the Navy of the Russian Federation. In particular, we are talking about monitoring the movements of British and French strategic submarines and the potential threat of mining their transit routes from bases to ocean waters.
FRED, FTI and PSIM
The FREMM frigate program for the National Marine Corps has entered its final phase, which consists in the construction of the last two units (i.e. No. 7 and 8) in the FREDA anti-aircraft version (Frégate de défense aérienne) at the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient. Since the initial number of FREMMs had been reduced from 17 in three variants (PDO, AA and ASW) to eight, it was decided that both FREDA frigates would be essentially identical to the base ASW unit. Changes will include a modification (increase in radiated power) of the Thales Herakles multi-functional radar, the addition of a sixteenth operator console to the combat information center, and adjustments to the CETIS combat system software to optimize it for use in the air defense zone. The Sylver A70 vertical launcher for MBDA MdCN maneuvering missiles will replace the second A50, increasing the number of MBDA Aster-15 and 30 guided missiles to 32. Currently, the hull of the first FRED - Alsace, scheduled for launch in April 2019, is installed in an indoor dry dock , whose stern is the first blocks of the twin hull Lorraine, the rest are produced in neighboring halls. The ships are to be handed over to the fleet for trials in 2021 and 2022. The shipyard is also equipped with the latest in a series of Normandie base ships. The tether trials will begin soon, and next year he will raise the flag. These three complete the French chapter of the FREMM program.
Meanwhile, more and more is known about the next project - FTI (Frégates de taille intermédiaire), that is, medium frigates, alternating units of the Lafayette type. Although the latter, for design reasons, revolutionized the design of warships of this size, their poor armament and equipment led to their degradation to rank II (patrol) frigates. With FTI, things will be different. Here, a revolution in equipment will take place, which, together with extensive weapon systems, will make FTI attributable to rank I units. This is due to the reduction in the number of FREMMs and the desire of the Marine Corps to keep 15 frigates of this category in 2030 (8 FREMM, 2 Horizon, 5 FTI). A contract for the design and construction of a prototype DGA was signed with Naval Group and Thales in April 2017, and six months later they signed an agreement with MBDA to develop a unified firing system for MM40 Exocet Block 3 and Aster missiles (while they used separate ones). This is the first of the new products used at FTI. The following of them: an asymmetric combat center (located behind the wheelhouse, a "day" command and control room with optoelectronic sensors for all-round surveillance, designed to guide police operations), two centralized server rooms with computers that support consoles and monitors in the command center (new consoles do not have their own workstations, which simplifies maintenance and limits the number of places of potential failures and penetration of security systems), cyber-
Thales security and products, including the Sentinel all-digital radio intelligence system, the CAPTAS 4 Compact towed sonar and the Kingklip Mk2 hull sonar, the Aquilon digital integrated communications system and the most externally visible Sea Fire multifunctional radar. This will result in the 4500t FTI having the same anti-submarine and surface targets as the 6000t FREMM, but will outperform its dedicated FREDA version in anti-aircraft operations (sic!). The last feature is the effect of using Sea Fire with four AESA wall antennas with much better parameters than Heracles with one PESA rotating antenna. However, this came at a high price for smaller vessels – five would cost around 3,8 billion euros. Next year, the finalization of the working draft of the frigates is expected, and after its completion, the cutting of sheets for the construction of a prototype will probably begin. Its tests are scheduled for 2023, and serial ships will be credited by 2029. An interim solution is the repair and modernization of three of the five Lafayettes (including the installation of: Kingklip Mk2 sonar, anti-torpedo launcher, new combat system).
The visit to the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient also gave the opportunity to get to know the mast module PSIM (Panorama Sensor and Intelligent Module) from the inside. The antennas of the electronic systems are located in it in such a way as to provide an all-round view, without dead sectors, since there are no other masts on the ship that interfere with the view and cause reflections. This also avoids the risk of electromagnetic interference. Under the part with sensors is a server room, and even lower - a control room and a radio room with encryption devices. PSIM integration takes place onshore before assembly of the finished unit on the ship. This simplifies the entire process and allows the unit's sensors to be prepared for installation in parallel with its construction, thus reducing its time. PSIM is currently designed for the Egyptian Gowind 2500 corvettes, but its expanded version, which additionally houses a mission planning room and a more extensive set of electronics, is intended for FTI and its Belharra export version.
