France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

On October 24, the steel-cutting ceremony of the first FDI (Defense and Intervention Frigate) took place at the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient, in the presence of the Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly and the Chief of the Hellenic Navy Nikolaos Tsounis.

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The first two ATL2 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) upgraded by Dassault Aviation were delivered to the French Navy (Marine Nationale) at the Lann-Bihoué naval air base.

The contract for the upgraded (standard 6) ATL2 combat system was awarded by the defense procurement agency DGA on October 4, 2013. The program covers a fleet of 18 aircraft. Dassault Aviation will deliver a further five upgraded ATL2s in the period 2020-2023. In parallel, the SIAé aeronautical maintenance center will upgrade 11 aircraft.

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Fincantieri has been awarded an order from Chantiers de l’Atlantique (CdA) for the construction of the forward sections of four vessels based on the Italian “Vulcano” design.

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The Airbus Helicopters VSR700 naval VTOL UAV made its maiden flight on November 8 at the Aix-en-Provence drone test center (south of France). Several test captive-flights were successfully performed on an enhanced version of the UAV.

The VSR700 performed several take-offs and landings on Friday 8th of November with the longest flight lasting around ten minutes, the company announced

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On October 11, the French Direction Générale de l’Armement (Directorate General of Armaments) organized a visit at the DGA Hydrodynamics centre at Val-de-Reuil, in Normandy. A unique occasion to discover the astonishing facilities that greatly contributes to the optimal dynamic performances and low acoustic signature of the French Navy' surface ships and submarines.

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