The ''Suffren''-class is a class of

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

attack submarines An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants, and merchant vessels. In the Soviet Navy, Soviet and Russian Navy, Russian navies ...

, designed by the French shipbuilder

Naval Group Naval Group is a major French industrial Corporate group, group specializing in navy, naval defense industry, defense design, development and shipbuilding, construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards ...

(formerly DCNS) for the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. It is intended to replace the s. Construction began in 2007 and the lead boat of the class, , was commissioned on 6 November 2020. It officially entered active service on 3 June 2022.

History

Development

In October 1998, the '' Delegation Générale pour l'Armement'', the French government's defense procurement agency, established an integrated project team consisting of the Naval Staff, DCN (now known as Naval Group), Technicatome and the ''

Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, or CEA ( French: Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives), is a French public government-funded research organisation in the areas of energy, defense and sec ...

'', a regulatory body that oversees

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

power plants, to oversee a program the design of a new attack submarine class, called Barracuda. DCN was to be the boat's designer and builder while Technicatome (since acquired by

Areva Areva S.A. was a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power, active between 2001 and 2018. It was headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through t ...

) was to be responsible for the nuclear power plant. The two companies were to act jointly as a single

prime contractor Prime contractor may refer to: * Prime contractor (US Government), a specific term in the US law for contractors that work directly with the US government * Prime contractor, a synonym of general contractor A contractor (North American English) or ...

to share the industrial risks, manage the schedules, and be responsible for the design's performance and costs, which at the time was estimated to be US$4.9 billion. On 22 December 2006, the French government placed a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

7.9 billion order for six ''Suffren'' submarines with Naval Group and their nuclear power plants with Areva-Technicatome. According to the DGA “Competition at the subcontractor level will be open to foreign companies for the first time.” According to the contract, the first boat was to commence sea trials in early 2016, with delivery occurring in late 2016/early 2017. This was to be followed by entry into service in late 2017. However, this timetable for service entry was later pushed back into the early 2020s. The first boat of the class, ''Suffren'', became fully operational in June 2022. The second boat of the class, ''Duguay-Trouin'', also suffered delays but began sea trials on 26 March 2023, performing her first dive on 27 and 28 March. The submarine was formally delivered to the French Navy in August 2023. In early 2024, '' Duguay-Trouin'' deployed to the Caribbean as part of her ongoing trials and was declared fully operational in April 2024. The third submarine in the class, '' Tourville'', began her sea trials in July 2024 and was delivered in November 2024.

Description

Barracudas will integrate technology from the , including

pump-jet A pump-jet, hydrojet, or water jet is a marine system that produces a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller (axial-flow pump), a centrifugal pump, or a mixed flow pump which is a combination of bot ...

propulsion. This class reportedly produces approximately 1/1000 of the detectable noise of the boats, and they are ten times more sensitive in detecting other submarines. They will be fitted with torpedo tube-launched

MdCN The Missile de Croisière Naval (MdCN), meaning Naval Cruise Missile, is a French turbojet-powered subsonic cruise missile intended for ship and submarine-based land-attack operations. Originally dubbed ''SCALP Naval'', the program arose out of a ...

cruise missiles for long-range (well above ) strikes against strategic land targets. Their missions will include anti-surface and

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

, land attack, intelligence gathering, crisis management and

special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...

. The Barracuda class nuclear reactor incorporates several improvements over that of the preceding ''Rubis''. Notably, it extends the time between refueling and complex overhauls (RCOHs) from 7 to 10 years, enabling higher at-sea availability. In support of special operations missions, the Barracuda can also accommodate up to 15

Commandos Marine The Commandos Marine, nicknamed ''Bérets Verts'' (Green Berets), are the special operation forces (SOF) of the French Navy, headquartered in Lorient, Brittany in western France. They operate under the Special Operations Command (COS), FOR ...

. It integrates a removable

dry deck shelter A dry deck shelter (DDS) is a removable module that can be attached to a submarine to allow divers easy exit and entrance while the boat is submerged. The host submarine must be specially modified to accommodate the DDS, with the appropriate matin ...

aft of the sail able to embark the commandos' new generation PSM3G Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (ECA Special Warfare Underwater Vehicle).

Specifications

Designed by Naval Group and TechnicAtome, the Barracuda integrates the following systems: Note: The Antenne Linéaire Remorquée à technologie Optique (ALRO) under development by Thales for the

SNLE 3G The SNLE 3G () "third generation nuclear ballistic missile submarine") is a class of submarines under development for the French Navy's nuclear deterrent, part of the Force de dissuasion. It is being designed as a replacement for the current ...

is expected to replace the ETBF DSUV 62C towed array sonar on the Barracuda-class submarines. The Exocet SM39 submarine-launched anti-ship missile was initially expected to be replaced via the FMAN/FMC led by

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.launched from submarines as their dimensions will not be compatible with torpedo tubes. MBDA is therefore pitching its Exocet SM40 under development as a successor to the SM39 post-2030.

Boats

Shortfin Barracuda conventional variant

Australia

Naval Group submitted a conventionally powered diesel-electric variation to the design – named the Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A, a derivative of the SMX Ocean concept – to the competitive evaluation process (CEP) phase of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's ''Collins''-class submarine replacement. "While exact details remain confidential, DCNS can confirm the Shortfin Barracuda is over in length and displaces more than 4,000 tons when dived," said Sean Costello, CEO of Naval Group Australia. Naval Group was chosen by the Australian Government on 26 April 2016 to build twelve of the Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A variant at a projected AU$50 billion (US$). Much of the works were to be undertaken at ASC Pty Ltd in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Construction was expected to begin in 2023. The class would have been known as the ''Attack''-class submarine with the first vessel named HMAS ''Attack''. On 16 September 2021, Australia cancelled the ''Attack''-class project and entered into a partnership with the United States and United Kingdom to obtain nuclear submarine technology (

SSN-AUKUS The SSN-AUKUS, also known as the SSN-A, is a planned class of nuclear-powered attack submarine ( SSN) intended to enter service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the late 2030s and Royal Australian Navy in the early 2040s. The class will ...

). The reactors run on weapons-grade uranium, are sealed and last for the thirty three years. The ones France uses, on the other hand, have to be serviced every ten years since it switched from weapons-grade to

low-enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...

(LEU) to fuel its nuclear-powered submarines from the onward; this therefore requires a domestic nuclear industry, which Australia lacks.

Netherlands

The Shortfin Barracuda class was proposed by Naval Group to the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

as one of the three competitors in the ''Walrus''-class replacement program. The design was competing against the

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab AB, a Swedish aircraft, aerospace and defence company, still known as SAAB, and together with subsidiaries as Saab Group ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab ...

A26 submarine The ''Blekinge''-class submarine is the next generation of submarines developed by Kockums for the Swedish Navy, also known as the A26 type. First planned at the beginning of the 1990s, the project was called "''U-båt 2000''" and was intended ...

and the TKMS

Type 212 submarine The Type 212A is a class of diesel-electric attack submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) for the German Navy (), and the Italian Navy where it is known as the ''Todaro'' class. It features diesel propulsion and an add ...

. On 15 March 2024 State Secretary for Defence

Christophe van der Maat Christophe van der Maat (born 29 October 1980) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). From January 2022 until July 2024, he served as State Secretary for Defence. Early life and education Van der Maat was ...

announced that Naval Group had been selected as the winning bid. The boats will be known as the ''Orka'' class, with the first two planned to be delivered within ten years of the contract signing.

References

External links

* *
France's Future SSNs: The Barracuda Class
at Defense Industry Daily. {{Current SSN Submarine classes Proposed ships Attack submarines