Naval Group delivers the third Suffren-class nuclear attack submarine (SSN) to the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA)
Cherbourg, November 18th – With the Tourville, Naval Group has now delivered 3 of the 6 Suffren nuclear attack submarines destined for the French Navy to the DGA, in the span of 4 years.
The delivery of the Tourville follows that of the SSN Suffren in 2020 and that of the Duguay-Trouin in 2023, while the other three submarines in the program – the De Grasse, Rubis and Casabianca- are all currently under construction at various stages of completion at Naval Group’s Cherbourg site. The De Grasse will be transferred to the launch facility in spring 2025.
This series of 6 SSNs is part of the Barracuda program led by French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) in partnership with the the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA)) for nuclear boilers, aims to replace the generation of Rubis-type SSNs in service with the French Navy.
Naval Group is responsible for the production of this series of submarines, from design to shipbuilding, for manufacturing the main components of the nuclear boilers developed and built with TechnicAtome, and for providing logistical support and ship maintenance in Toulon.
This is the result of a tight cooperation with our partners, which has benefited from feedback from the Suffren and Duguay-Trouin. Final stage before operational trials and admission to active service by the French Navy, the delivery of the Tourville follows a 4-month sea trials campaign that began on July 12. These tests followed the commissioning of the nuclear boiler room in April 2024, and the dockside trials carried out since the submarine’s transfer to its launching gear on July 20, 2023. Prior to this, operations carried out in the dry dock integration bay, then in the water, enabled equipment and systems to be tested.
Following the Tourville’s admission to active service, the French Navy will operate more Suffren-type submarines than Rubis.
The technical characteristics of the Suffren-class submarines
- Surface displacement: 4,700 t
- Underwater displacement: : 5,200 t
- Length: 99 metres
- Diameter: 8.8 metres
- Armament: naval cruise missiles, F21 heavy-weight wire-guided torpedoes, modernised Exocet SM39 anti-ship missiles
- Hybrid propulsion: pressurised water reactor derived from the reactors on board the Triomphant-type SSBN and Charles-de-Gaulle aircraft carrier, two propulsion turbines, two turbo generators and two electric motors
- Crew: 65 crew members + commandos
- Availability: > 270 days per year