Triomphant-class submarine
 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Triomphant |
| Builders: | DCNS |
| Operators: |
 French Navy |
| Preceded by: | Redoutable class |
| Cost: | €4.282 billion (2009)[1] |
| Building: | 0 |
| Planned: | 4 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Active: | 4 |
| Laid up: | 0 |
| Lost: | 0 |
| Retired: | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | ballistic missile submarine |
| Displacement: |
12,640 tonne (surfaced) 14,335 tonne (submerged) |
| Length: | 138 metres (453 ft) |
| Beam: | 12.50 metres (41.0 ft) |
| Draught: | 10.60 metres (34.8 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
K15 pressurised water reactor (150 MW), turboreductor system, Pump-jet two diesel-powered generators SEMT Pielstick 8PA4V200 SM (700 kW) auxiliaries. 30,500 kW |
| Speed: | over 25 knots (46 km/h) |
| Range: | Unlimited distance; 20-25 years |
| Test depth: | Over 400 metres |
| Complement: |
15 officers 96 sailors |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
Sonar DMUX 80 |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: | ARUR 13 |
| Armament: |
Nuclear : 16 M45 SLBM or M51 SLBM missiles with TN 75 warheads |
| Notes: | boats in the class include: Triomphant (S 616), Téméraire (S 617), Vigilant (S 618), Terrible (S 619) |
The Triomphant class of ballistic missile submarines of the French Navy is the active class of four boats that entered service in 1997, 1999, 2004, and 2010. These four supersede the older Redoutable-class, and they provide the ocean-based component (the Force océanique stratégique) of France's nuclear deterrent strike force, the Force de Frappe.
The first three boats are all armed with the French-produced and armed M45 intermediate-range missile, and the fourth vessel, Terrible, has tested and is equipped with the more advanced M51 missile.[2] Each of the first three boats are to be retrofitted to the M51 missile standard, starting with Vigilant in Winter 2010, then Triomphant and ending with Téméraire in 2018.[3]
SNLE-NG
In French, these are called Sous-Marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins de Nouvelle Génération (English: "Next Generation Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine"), abbreviated as SNLE-NG. They have replaced all of the Redoutable-class boats, with the last of those six boats being decommissioned in 2008. These submarines carry 16 Submarine-launched Ballistic Missile launching tubes apiece.
This class reportedly produces approximately 1/1000 of the detectable noise of the Redoutable-class boats (submarines), and they are ten times more sensitive in detecting other submarines.[4] Initially armed with the M45 Missile, they are designed to carry the new M51 missile, which entered active service in 2010. As of October 2010, an M51 has been test-fired from one of these submarines across the Atlantic Ocean from near France to the west, and is equipped on the Terrible.
These boats were all constructed by the DCNS, and they carry an armament of 16 M45 SLBM or M51 SLBM missiles manufactured by the Aérospatiale company (now EADS Astrium Space Transportation.), plus conventional torpedoes and Exocet anti-ship missiles.
List of submarines
The French Navy's goal is to operate a force of four ballistic missile submarines (comparable with the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class submarines), of which two of the French boats are expected to be on patrol at any given time.
| Name | Construction began | Launched | Commissioned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triomphant | 9 June 1986 | 26 March 1994 | 21 March 1997 |
| Téméraire | 18 December 1993 | 21 January 1998 | 23 December 1999 |
| Vigilant | January 1996 | 19 September 2003 | 26 November 2004 |
| Terrible | 24 October 2000 | 21 March 2008 | 20 September 2010[5] |
Accidents
On 3 February or 4 February 2009, the Triomphant apparently collided with the Royal Navy submarine HMS Vanguard.[6][7] The Triomphant was reported to have proceeded to Brest under her own power, submerged, but with extensive damage to her sonar dome.
Gallery
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Comparison of different nuclear systems: left, the SNLE (Redoutable type) with the M4 missile; right, the SNLE-NG (Triomphant type) with the M45 missile and the M51 missile.
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Le Vigilant
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Le Triomphant class submarines. |
References
- ↑ French Audit Report Reveals Weapon Prices, A400M Details
- ↑ AFP: La marine française met un quatrième sous-marin nucléaire en service
- ↑ "IA M51 : Chape de plomb sur le nucléaire". Mer et Marine. 41 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
- ↑ Le Triomphant
- ↑ "Le Terrible entre en service actif". Ministry of Defense (France). 1 October 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ↑
- ↑ "Unthinkable". The Sun (London). 16 February 2009.
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