France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

FORBIN said:

3 for France (1 in service)

3 for Italy (1 in servie)

1 for Morocco ( 0 in service )

Normandie next year.

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Ah.

So Normandie, Virgino Fasan and Mohammed VI are all not commissioned yet then.

I thought the Normandie was just placed in service and the Virgino Fasan too. Thanks for the update. I expect they all will be commissioned soon though, like within 2-3 months?

Jeff Head said:

Ah.

So Normandie, Virgino Fasan and Mohammed VI are all not commissioned yet then.

I thought the Normandie was just placed in service and the Virgino Fasan too. Thanks for the update. I expect they all will be commissioned soon though, like within 2-3 months?

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Very soon for Morocco and Italian ships, Normandie about spring or summer.

But there is a difference between commissioned and in service... despite all the Aquitaine is still not officially in service but she is operational in addition this class of ships is developed/worck.

It lacks only the CM MDCN but she can carry also 32 Aster-15...

MDCN is very expensive compared with Tomahawk, a real cheap CM

FORBIN said:

Very soon for Morocco and Italian ships, Normandie about spring or summer.

But there is a difference between commissioned and in service... despite all the Aquitaine is still not officially in service but she is operational in addition this class of ships is developed/worck.

It lacks only the CM MDCN but she can carry also 32 Aster-15...

MDCN is very expensive compared with Tomahawk, a real cheap CM

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Well, for my purposes, when a vessel is commissioned, she is in service, but that does not mean she is fully operational yet. IOC comes first, then full operational capability, but for me, that occurs after commissioning when she is available for service to the armed forces.

Anyhow, those are distinctions that can be debated. I always try and track Laid Down date, Launch Date, and Commissioning Date, and leave it at that for the purposes of my sites.

French Minister of Defense Confirms Launch of ANL FASGW(H) anti-ship missile program
[video=youtube;rq8MFoBOyO4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq8MFoBOyO4[/video]

French Defense Minister Jean Yves Le Drian today announced the launch of several new defense programs at the Assemblée Nationale (French Parliament). One of these programs is the ANL (Anti Navire Léger / Light Anti-ship) anti-ship missile made by MBDA. This program is also known as FASGW(H) (Future Anti-Ship Guided Weapon Heavy) in the UK.

With the French green light, the FASG(H) / ANL joint weapon procurement program will finally move forward. A decision long awaited by the Royal Navy who has an urgent need to replace their existing Sea Skua missiles.

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Deployment of three months for Charles De Gaulle carrier group


View attachment 8729

Charles De Gaulle CVN


Forbin DDG


Jean de Vienne FFG


Meuse CS


Rubis class SN

No doubt about it France has a really good and modern navy and they have been very successful in exporting equipment when it comes to comparison with UK

Only thing I would say is that they are not getting a second carrier after the white paper was issued, which kind of puts them in a difficult position but still the current one is still really good

Once the Royal Navy adds too Queen Elizabeth Carriers, 6 x Type 45 and 4 x MARS tankers they will trump France easily

Plus UK has 7 x SSN France has 6 and they are smaller than the Astute Class

Not to mention the Royal Navy has a wealth of experience, never the less France is well equipped for a fight

The redundancy allowed by two carriers is a great feature. One the French politicians don't seem to have realized. Maybe if they do make a sale of new carriers to Brazil they will smarten up and invest in one for them selves. Everytime the carrier returns to port the French navy looses its most valuable assets.

TerraN_EmpirE said:

The redundancy allowed by two carriers is a great feature. One the French politicians don't seem to have realized. Maybe if they do make a sale of new carriers to Brazil they will smarten up and invest in one for them selves. Everytime the carrier returns to port the French navy looses its most valuable assets.

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I agree! French are doing really well it looks more and more likely Russia is going to buy another two Mistral Class to bring the number to 4 units

That would mean the 3 with France and 4 from Russia would mean 7 Mistral Class built, the 4th Mistral for France was not excercised and a 5th was also not built but I think if France built 4th and 5th unit it would mean they would have 5 LHD and also two carriers a very powerful navy indeed

Mistral Class has a lot of interest from many nations they might end up selling more of these, even better for France

If Brazil does go for a carrier from France it would be a good time for France to build a second unit

TerraN_EmpirE said:

The redundancy allowed by two carriers is a great feature. One the French politicians don't seem to have realized. Maybe if they do make a sale of new carriers to Brazil they will smarten up and invest in one for them selves. Everytime the carrier returns to port the French navy looses its most valuable assets.

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Bitter reality is that France doesn't have enough money to operate even current fleet (and armed forces as a whole) . They are cutting numbers to retain most modern and promising equipment . Much will depend on long delayed signing of contract with India on Rafale . There are growing demands in India to scrub entire deal , replace aging Mig-21s with Tejas (even if it doesn't meet all requirements) and introduce more Su-30 MKIs and Super MKIs until FGFA comes along .

In current situation , Marine nationale could create one aircraft carrier group , and one amphibious assault group (with two Mistral-class vessels , one to remain in reserve ) . That is not too bad for the country of that size - they could fight one small "colonial" war with that force . Of course , it would be better to have two carriers in case one needs to be refitted , but again expeditionary actions like that in Mali are not urgent - they could afford to wait couple of months until carrier gets repaired .

P.S.

Btw , here is article on Wikipedia about French military cuts with details for navy :