Morocco’s US$676 million contract for the frigate
was finalised with DCNS in April 2008 and construction began at Lorient
in December 2008. In the next few months, DCNS personnel at the Lorient
facility will continue assembly work on the vessel at the quayside.
The next major phase is installation of the mast infrastructure, which
will house the vessel's sensor suites, DCNS said in a statement.
The multirole FREMM frigates have been designed for
several roles, including anti-air, anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare.
They feature Herakles multifunction radar, Aster anti-air missiles,
Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles, MU90 torpedoes and an Otobreda 76
mm gun. Each vessel is 142 metres long, has a beam of 20 metres and
displaces 6 000 tonnes.
The frigates are powered by gas turbines giving a
top speed of 27 knots. For quiet anti-submarine operations, the shafts
are driven by electric motors, giving a silent mode speed of up to
15 knots.
Although there is accommodation for 145 personnel,
the standard complement is 108 including the helicopter crew. The
frigate has an aft helicopter hangar and deck able to accommodate
medium helicopters like the NH90, EH101 and Cougar.
The Royal Moroccan Navy is modernising and expanding
its capabilities, especially with the acquisition of two French-built
Floreal class frigates in 2002 and the purchase of three SIGMA frigates
in 2008. Morocco’s first SIGMA class frigate, Tarik ben Ziyad,
was on Monday transferred to the Royal Moroccan Navy after completing
sea trials and outfitting. At the end of this month, after training
is concluded, the Tarik ben Ziyad will start her maiden voyage to
Morocco.
Morocco will use the FREMM frigate to patrol its long
coastline and take part in joint operations with NATO and other navies.
The Navy has also expanded the number of offshore and coastal patrol
vessels to counter illegal fishing and people smuggling.
Morocco’s current naval fleet includes two Floréal-class
frigates and a Descubierta-class corvette in addition to some 21 patrol
craft and a number of other ships and vessels. Four more patrol craft
are also on order.
