Shipbuilding: Frigate Normandie Floated Out
French naval frigate FREMM Normandie was floated out February 1 at the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient, France (Photo: Naval Group)
FREMM Normandie floats out in Lorient (Photo: Naval Group)
French shipbuilder Naval Group said it floated the FREMM multi-mission frigate Normandie on February 1, roughly one year after the start of hull assembly in the building dock on the Lorient site.
The eighth FREMM frigate to be built in Lorient and the sixth in a series ordered by OCCAR (Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation) on behalf of the DGA (French Defense Procurement Agency - Direction Générale de l’Armement) for the French Navy, the FREMM Normandie was taken out of its building dock in Lorient where it was assembled on time: just 12.5 months since the first block was positioned on the keel block line.
Nicolas Gaspard, director of the FREMM program, said, “This floating out was a real scheduling challenge to fulfill our commitment to deliver six antisubmarine FREMMs to the French Navy by 2019, as planned in the Military Programming Law 2014-2019. A challenge that has been successfully overcome thanks to the determination and know-how of the Group's teams, combined with an organization developed on the basis of the feedback gathered from the previous ships.”
According to the shipbuilder, Normandie will leave the dry dock this autumn to undergo its first sea trials before expected delivery to the French Navy in summer 2019.
The heavily armed FREMM Normandie and its sister ships are equipped with a wide range of weapon systems and equipment, including Herakles multifunction radar, naval cruise missile (MdCN), Aster and Exocet MM 40 missiles and MU 90 torpedoes.
- Overall length: 142 meters
- Width: 20 meters
- Displacement: 6,000 metric tons
- Max. speed: 27 knots
- Implementation: 108 persons (including the helicopter detachment)
- Accommodation capacity: 145 persons
- Range: 6,000 nautical miles at 15 knots
FREMM frigate Aquitaine was delivered in 2012, the Provence in 2015, the Languedoc in 2016 and the Auvergne in April 2017. The FREMM Bretagne, floated in September 2016, will be transferred to Brest, where it will be based, in the second quarter 2018.
On the international market, Morocco took delivery of the Mohammed VI in 2014 and Egypt took delivery of the Tahya Misr in 2015.
The two final frigates, Alsace and Lorraine, will be delivered to the French Navy before the end of 2022.
Assembly of FREMM Alsace in the Lorient building dock will begin in spring 2018.
