First FREMM Frigate Aquitaine Starts Tests

[designeraccd]

DCNS begins sea trials of first-of-class FREMM frigate Aquitaine
2011-04-18



One month early, DCNS begins the sea trials of the Aquitaine, the first ship built under the FREMM multimission frigate programme. The campaign takes place off the Brittany peninsula and is expected to last several weeks including return trips to DCNS’s shipyard. Delivery to the French Navy is scheduled for 2012.

The joint crew comprising French Navy personnel, customer representatives and employees of DCNS and its partners will demonstrate the ship’s seakeeping and other nautical qualities as well as the performance of the propulsion and navigation systems.

“These trials represent the culmination of the combined efforts of many people working towards common goals, including teams employed by DCNS and its partners and suppliers, the trials crews and customer representatives,” commented FREMM programme manager Vincent Martinot-Lagarde.

Day and night, test will follow test at a sustained pace. The next three days are known as the familiarisation phase. This will be used by the Navy crew and DCNS specialists to test the vessel’s safety systems and equipment, including fire-fighting, flood control and emergency response systems and evacuation procedures as well as manoeuvrability and mooring performance.

The next phase will focus on the propulsion system. The FREMM’s high-performance hybrid CODLOG (COmbined Diesel eLectric Or Gas) power package combines a gas turbine for high-speed mechanical propulsion and electric motors powered by four diesel-alternator sets for low-speed propulsion. The system will be tested in all configurations from low-speed silent-mode all-electric propulsion to high-speed gas turbine-powered mechanical propulsion, including runs at maximum speed. The trials also call for extensive testing of the ship’s navigation system (log, position, heading), inertial platforms (for positioning) and other basic systems.

Over the coming weeks, over 200 people, including 60 Navy men and women, will spend time on FREMM frigate Aquitaine. To save the ship returning to port, many will be ferried out and back.

Close cooperation between the French Navy crew in charge of the ship proper and specialists working for DCNS and its partners will ensure that all basic systems are thoroughly tested. On completing these preliminary trials, FREMM frigate Aquitaine will return to DCNS’s Lorient shipyard for several weeks of quayside work. In June, the ship will put to sea for a second campaign of trials focusing on the combat system.

FREMM, a major programme for DCNS and partners
The French FREMM programme calls for 12 ships – 11 for the French Navy and one for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

For DCNS and partners working at the Lorient centre, this is the biggest programme in progress. The Lorient job catchment is the leading beneficiary. Each year, the FREMM programme will provide 3 million hours of employment for a total of almost 50 million hours between 2006 and 2022. Each FREMM frigate represents twice the work hours that went into the spectacular Millau viaduct near the eponymous town in southern France.

FREMM frigates are among the most technologically advanced and competitively priced on the world market. These heavily armed warships are being built under DCNS prime contractorship to carry state-of-the-art weapons and systems including the Herakles multifunction radar, MdCN deep-strike cruise missiles, Aster anti-air missiles, Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles and MU90 torpedoes.

FREMM multirole frigates are designed to respond to all types of threats with unparalleled flexibility and availability. As demonstrated by the export contract with the Royal Moroccan Navy, they are also designed to meet the needs and expectations of international client navies.

FREMM technical data
• Length overall: 142 m
• Beam: 20 m
• Displacement (approx.): 6,000 tonnes
• Max. speed: 27 knots
• Complement: 108 (including helicopter crew)
• Accommodation: 145 men and women
• Range: 6,000 nm (at 15 knots)

This once large European joint venture is now down to 2 French and 2 Italian units of similar design, if I've read certain articles correctly? DFO

Also, found this nice beam view of her fitting out. Note the slightly angled break line, visible in the beam view, from leading edge of deck house going up as it heads to rear; more stealth?

There is a decent article in the latest WARSHIP INTERNATIONAL comparing the various modern European designs of this general type.

[r.morrison]

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/fremm/

This link gives a view of the weapons systems, the propulsion etc.

It is a pity that no gatling type point defense system is planned...........

4 .50 machine guns are a bit too lightweight these days.

[designeraccd]

The W.I. article noted the "diversity" of weapon systems the various European designs carry...some seemed rather underarmed for their size....maybe they consulted with the LCS "designers"??? DFO

[designeraccd]

Correction...the article I was thinking of was in WARSHIP 2010 and dealt with the larger "European Air Defence Escorts" such as French and Italian "Horizon" classes...2 units each, now, including the Italian pair: Andrea Doria and sister Dulio. Mrmory slippage, the brain cells grow weaker! DFO

[designeraccd]

A friend sent me some nice photos of the Aquitane. The high beam view shows her off very nicely.......DFO

[designeraccd]

A puff pc. about the leadship:

"Teams from DCNS, the French Navy and defence procurement agency DGA recently completed a new test campaign aboard first-of-class FREMM multimission frigate Aquitaine, the last and most important being the first ever torpedo launch test from a FREMM frigate.

After demonstrating FREMM frigate Aquitaine’s compatibility with a 10-tonne Caïman helicopter (the French version of the Eurocopter/EADS NH90) in March, DCNS specialists spent several weeks putting the vessel’s combat system, which includes the torpedo launch control system, through its paces.

After validating the torpedo tube configuration and performing dry-run tests, the DCNS team conducted the torpedo launch test the 22nd of June. Using an exercise torpedo equipped with sensors and data loggers instead of a warhead, the launch was performed under otherwise operational conditions. The results validated the torpedo tube configuration’s compliance with the relevant specifications. Shipboard observation by DCNS specialists and the data gathered by the torpedo’s onboard sensors confirmed all key parameters including exit speed, angle of impact with the water, and torpedo behaviour and trajectory.

“First-of-class FREMM multimission frigate Aquitaine is designed to face all types of threats,” says Vincent Martinot-Lagarde, FREMM programme manager. “The success of the first torpedo launch test is an important milestone as it confirms the ASW capabilities of the ship and her combat system which was designed, developed and produced by DCNS,” he added. In addition to a leading role in the FREMM design programme, DCNS teams contributed, in cooperation with the DGA, to the design of the MU90 lightweight torpedo, the torpedo launch control system and the launch tubes.

FREMM frigate Aquitaine is equipped with four launch tubes and will carry up to 19 MU90 torpedoes. Each torpedo weighs close to 300 kg. The MU90 design offers a top speed of over 55 knots, sophisticated target tracking and state-of-the-art stealth.

Thanks to the ASW sensors and weapons carried by her organic Caïman Marine/NH90 helicopter, her payload of MU90 torpedoes and great stealth, FREMM frigate Aquitaine offers ASW (anti-submarine warfare) capabilities that are as innovative as they are fearsome.

FREMM, a major programme for DCNS and partners

The French FREMM programme calls for 12 ships – 11 for the French Navy and one for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

FREMM frigates are among the most technologically advanced and competitively priced on the world market. These heavily armed warships are being built under DCNS prime contractorship to carry state-of-the-art weapons and systems including the Herakles multifunction radar, MdCN cruise missiles, Aster anti-air missiles, Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles and MU90 torpedoes.

Thanks to their many innovations, FREMM multimission frigates can respond to all types of threats with unparalleled flexibility and availability. The first export sale, to the Royal Moroccan Navy, demonstrates that they also meet the needs and expectations of international client navies."

Place your orders NOW!! DFO

[Brian Wentzell]

Dennis: FNS Aquitane, D650, arrived in Halifax on April 19, 2013. She is here as part of her first long cruise to this side of the Atlantic. The visit is an opportunity to show the RCN what new frigates with reduced crews and modern electronics may accomplish. Attached is a picture of her alongside in HMC Dockyard. She has a shapely bow but otherwise a boxy superstructure as is common these days. With the radar systems contained within the mast structure, the NH 90 helicopter on the flight deck, and the main gun forward, one would not appreciate the extent of her combat capabilities.

Brian