After
20 months of maintenance and upgrading in dock no. 8 at the Brest naval
base, the nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) Le Triomphant was
transferred to the operational base at Ile Longue, Brittany, on Tuesday
14 April 2015. Work on the vessel is continuing for DCNS and its partners.
Le Triomphant is the third French SSBN reconfigured for the M51 in the
operational cycle. |
Nothing
but superlatives for this programme of maintenance, upgrading and reconfiguring
for the M51 missile, carried out by DCNS with French defence procurement
agency DGA and French Navy fleet support service SSF as joint clients.
The full programme of reconfiguration work on board the submarine to
accommodate the new M51 missiles, replacing the M45s, constitutes a
real industrial challenge. This exceptional refit is consequently one
of the major programmes of the DCNS group in terms of both its technical
sophistication and its industrial magnitude.
In
addition to the complete upkeep programme, carried out regularly on
this class of submarine, and the reconfiguration to accommodate the
new M51 ballistic missile, the navigation, communication and combat
systems have been upgraded. Because of their size (138 metres long,
12,500 tons), onboard technologies at the cutting edge of scientific
progress, and the constraints relating to their use in operations, these
submarines are among the most complex systems produced in the world. |
During
its period in the dock, Le Triomphant, which entered service in 1997,
was worked on by 1,100 persons in peak work periods and 1,000 on average.
“DCNS’s industrial organisation is based on programme management
and work coordination. Almost 45 companies in the Brest region and elsewhere
in north-west France have been contracted for the 4 million hours of
work necessary for the completion of the programme, all complying with
the deadlines and the quality of work required by DCNS”, explained
programme director Michel Drévillon.
With
the completion of the work in Brest, the submarine has been transferred
to the operational base at Ile Longue, where DCNS and its partners are
going to be busy in particular with the final phase of reconfiguration
for the M51 missile. There will be several months of testing before
the SSBN returns to the operational cycle. |
The
French Navy's goal is to operate a force of four ballistic missile submarines