SSN Suffren

The French Navy's first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) "Suffren" is pulling back in Toulon after Phase 3 of its sea trials, which consists of tests of the weapon systems. Nearly a year of testing is yet to be conducted before full operational capability in late 2021.

The Suffren-class is designed to replace the Rubis-class in the French Navy. Naval Group is in charge of the construction of this submarines series, including the design and construction of the ship and information systems as well as the manufacturing of the main components of nuclear boiler rooms. The armament of the Suffren-class submarine includes four 533mm torpedo tubes and 20 storage racks for various weapons including F21 Artemis heavy torpedoes, Exocet SM.39 Block 2 anti-ship missiles with a range of 50 km, SCALP naval cruise missiles with a range of over 1 000 km, and FG29 mines. Two mines can be carried per weapon rack.

The “launch event” took place on July 12th, 2019 in presence of French president Emmanuel Macron, while the ship was finally commissionned by the French Navy on November 6th, 2020.

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