French frigate Bretagne

Last updated
FREMM Bretagne en construction 6789.jpg
Bretagne on 7 January 2017
History
Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svgFrance
NameBretagne
Namesake Bretagne
Builder DCNS, Lorient
Laid downOctober 2013
Launched16 September 2016
Completed18 July 2018
Commissioned20 February 2019
Homeport Brest
Identification
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and type Aquitaine-class frigate
Displacement6,000 tons
Length466 ft (142.0 m)
Beam65 ft (19.8 m)
Draught16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion
Speed27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph); max cruise speed 15.6 knots (28.9 km/h; 18.0 mph)
Range6,000  nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement145
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Aircraft carried1 × NH90 helicopter
Aviation facilitiesSingle hangar

Bretagne (D655) is an Aquitaine-class frigate of the French Navy. The Aquitaine class were developed from the European multi-mission frigate (FREMM) program. [2]

Contents

Development and design

Original plans were for 17 FREMM hulls to replace the nine D'Estienne d'Orves-class avisos and nine anti-submarine (ASW) frigates of the Tourville and Georges Leygues classes. In November 2005 France announced a contract of €3.5 billion for development and the first eight hulls, with options for nine more costing €2.95 billion split over two tranches (totaling 17).

Following the cancellation of the third and fourth of the Horizon-class frigates in 2005 on budget grounds, requirements for an air-defence derivative of the FREMM called FREDA were placed – with DCNS coming up with several proposals. [3] Expectations were that the last two ships of the 17 FREMM planned would be built to FREDA specifications; however, by 2008 the plan was revised down to just 11 FREMM (9 ASW variants and 2 FREDA variants) at a cost of €8.75 billion (FY13, ~US$12 billion). [4] The 11 ships would cost €670 million (~US$760m) each in FY2014, or €860m (~US$980m) including development costs. [4] In 2015, the total number of ASW variants was further reduced to just six units, including Bretagne.

Construction and career

Bretagne was developed as part of a joint Italian-French program known as FREMM, which was implemented to develop a new class of frigates for use by various European navies. Constructed from 2013 the frigate Bretagne was launched in September 2016 and commissioned in February 2019.

Unlike previous ASW variants of the FREMMs, Bretagne and her sister ship Normandie are fitted with SYLVER A50 launch cells (instead of SYLVER A43) able to accommodate larger Aster-30 surface-to-air missiles. This provides both ships with a potentially enhanced area air defence capability, though both vessels still lacked the boosted variant of the Herakles multi-function radar (which was necessary to accommodate the full range of Aster 30) as well as a complementary fire control radar. [5] In June 2023, the frigate was reported to have fired her first Aster-30 missile during a multi-national exercise. Radar information was provided to Bretagne by the frigate Forbin via the Veille de Coopération Navale (VCN) framework, which allows for the exchange radar detection information between ships in real time. [6]

In August 2022, Bretagne was despatched to escort the Russian cruiser Marshal Ustinov and the destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov during their transit through the Bay of Biscay following the deployment of the Russian vessels from their Northern Fleet bases on the Kola Peninsula to the Mediterranean. [7]

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References

  1. ↑ "First Exocet MM40 Block 3c Missiles set for December Delivery". 17 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Aquitaine class FREMM Frigate French Navy Marine Nationale". www.seaforces.org. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  3. ↑ "FREMM : Supprimer des frégates, un non sens économique et stratégique?". Mer et Marine (in French). 19 September 2007. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Projet de loi de finances pour 2015 : Défense : équipement des forces" (in French). Senate of France. 20 November 2014. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
  5. ↑ "French Navy Fitting Aster 30 Long Range SAM on its Last Two ASW FREMM Frigates". navyrecognition.com. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  6. ↑ Groizeleau, Vincent (22 June 2023). "Défense aérienne : la FREMM Bretagne tire son premier Aster 30 et cela en mode VCN". Mer et Marine.
  7. ↑ "La Marine nationale accompagne un groupe russe au large de la Bretagne | Mer et Marine". September 2022.
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