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Miragedriver said:

France delivered the FREMM frigate to Egypt next day 23

Under the contract, DCNS made a series of modifications to the ship including the translation of interfaces, eliminating the vertical launchers DCNS SYLVER A70 initially installed for the operation of cruise missiles ground attack long-range MBDA Mdcn ( Missile of Croisière Naval) antennas and electronic countermeasures system Elettronica Nettuno 4100. The company is also responsible for the training of the crew of the ship and secure the supply of spare parts, logistical support and future maintenance of the ship.

The ship keeps pitchers SYLVER A43 Aster 15 missiles hired MBDA France, sonars Thales UMS 4110 CL and CAPTAS 4 missile launchers MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3 and Eurotorp MU90 torpedoes, anti-torpedo systems DCNS and Contralto-V Release Sagem NGDS multiple lures, the direction of pull electro-optical Sagem Vigy MM, the multifunction radar Thales HERAKLES and remotely operated weapon stations Nexter Systems NARWHAL 20B.

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So, from the article, I take that the Egyptian vessel will have:

16 x SYLVER A43 VLS for 16 Aster 15 AAW missiles

...and no Sylver A70 VLS.

As to the Exocet MM40 missiles. It says four launchers. Hmmm, does that mean four missiles, or could it mean that the Egyptians will have four quad launcher for 16 missiles?

If they took away the A70s but included 16 MM40s Block 3 missiles, they would still have a strong Anti-shipping, and anti-surface attack capanbility.

Sound like the other helicopter, torpedo, 76mm gun, etc. will remain pretty much the same.

Forbin or NavyReco...any ideas?

Good find Amigo

16 x SYLVER A43 VLS for 16 Aster 15 AAW missiles
...and no Sylver A70 VLS

Click to expand...

In fact no surprising but two A43 could be possible.

Sound like the other helicopter, torpedo, 76mm gun, etc. will remain pretty much the same.

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TL, gun yes but Egyptian Navy don' t buy NH-90, use SH-2G on Perry and Knox in fact this helos belong to AF, hangar can host two SH-2G.

Bergamini carry 2 NH-90 with TL and Milas very powerful ASW FFG !



Outstanding blog !

FORBIN said:

Good find Amigo

In fact no surprising but two A43 could be possible.

TL, gun yes but Egyptian Navy don' t buy NH-90, use SH-2G on Perry and Knox in fact this helos belong to AF, hangar can host two SH-2G.

Outstanding blog !

Click to expand...

What about the Exocet? From the article it was not clear.

They say four missiles, but I am wondering since they are not including the A70 VLS, do they mean four quad launchers?

You have overlook Jeff

The rest of the armament consists of eight (8)

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Click to expand...

For France, Morocco and Egypt ships now as we know.

Cayman Navy, support issues

The beginning of 2015 was rich for the Caiman Marine (NH90 NFH). For the first time, the new helicopter of the Navy participated in an operation. A device was on board the frigate Chevalier Paul within the battle group of the aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" deployed in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf. Meanwhile, capacity development is ongoing since the MU-90 torpedo was declared operational in March, 2015.

NHIndustries organized the Paris Air Show a reception to mark these early achievements. The rise of the NH90 TTH in the Navy was not a bed of roses but the device is now operational in all the spectrum of its missions. However the machine has not yet reached full maturity.

All sensors are working and the helicopter can implement its equipment. But the Navy still working to optimize all of these capabilities. The ESM example is not used to its full capacity. Sailors also working to better control the system of preparation and return of missions. Work is also underway to optimize the use of weapons of port or embarkation snipers. CSIO (Centre for Experimental Practice of Naval Aviation) is responsible to explore these areas and establish the doctrine of use of the device.

The Caiman operational Navy, the main issues now to the continued operational condition of the unit. NHIndustries claims to have made the availability of a priority devices. Sailors must be able to "steal as much as they want," said Vincent Dubrule, president of NHI. This requires that less time is spent on maintenance and spare parts are delivered faster. When deploying the Chevalier Paul, availability was very good. But the machine was prepared deployed accordingly. The devices remained in France have not benefited from this "special treatment" and meet regularly unavailable for maintenance operations. For Navy teams, this results in a very significant administrative burden and many hours spent working on the machine. The same types of problems were encountered with the Rafale for example at the beginning of the program. We must now optimize safety margins that were defined by each different industrial systems.

The Caiman is like other modern military systems. System complexity induced delays before reaching full maturity. However the crews of naval aviation already emphasized the contribution of the NH90 which has a huge jump compared to Lynx

The MQ-9 Reaper drones to the Air Force flew more than 5000 flight hours

Since the beginning of January 2013, the Air Force deployed on the air base in Niamey, Niger, and in the Squadron Drones 1/33 "Belfort" Two Harfang drones and three drones MQ-9 Reaper, who arrived, they, in January 2014 and May 2015.

The MQ-9 Reaper, which unfortunately are not armed, aim, like the Snowy, and as part of the operation barkhane, conduct reconnaissance, to illuminate laser targets the benefit of Mirage 2000D and Rafale, and monitor the actions of terrorist groups that operate in the Sahel-Saharan strip, between Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and Chad.

In a statement released Tuesday, June 16, the Ministry of Defense reported that during the many missions, the three MQ-9 Reaper drones have surpassed 5,000 flight hours over the Sahel-Saharan Only a year and a half after the first deployment.

The Air Force stated in particular that these drones have carried out 350 missions with "men and women of the squadron of drones 1/33" Belfort "who work day and night to ensure permanent surveillance of the area operation ". Not to mention the venerable Snowy complementary drones with Reaper drones, they "demonstrate daily their surplus value" and their central role in this operation barkhane with, alternately, "their participation in planned operations and opportunities."

While they were only two on the air base in Niamey, Niger, the first two MQ-9 Reaper had passed the 4,000 flight hours April 14, 2015.



Also two Harfang based there, Sqn 1/33 only UAS unit in the French AF based to Cognac have 3 MQ-9 and 4 Harfang,
Planned French AF have 12 MQ-9 for 2019 and Harfang retired.

The French Navy will have a new Polar Logistics Support Vessel


(Defensa.com) The French Overseas Ministry (Ministère des Outre-mers) has commissioned the French shipyard Piriou building a logistic support vessel Polar (Polar Logistics Support Vessel or Navire Logistique Polaire) called PLV amounting to 50 million euros. The contract was made possible by the collaboration of several ministries, such as overseas, the Research and Defense.

The PLV replace two ships currently in service, such as patrol ship "L'Albatros" and the icebreaker "L'ASTROBALE", responsible for ensuring the supply to the French Antarctic station Dumont d'Urville. This is a logistical ship with capacity to act as an icebreaker with a length of 72 meters and a width of 16 meters. It can accommodate up to 60 people, carrying 1,200 tons of cargo and accommodate a helicopter. It must be delivered in the summer of next year and in the fall he must travel to the Indian Ocean in winter and then move to the Southern Ocean to refuel the foundations of French research.

It will be based in the island of Reunion, French overseas department in the Indian Ocean where it is expected to be sharing between different French agencies like the Marine Nationale, the organization Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF, head of the southern territories and French Antarctic) and the French Polar Institute Paul Emile Emile Victor (IPEV).

Link:


Back to bottling my Grenache

BALTOPS: Multiple maneuvers for the Somme

From June 4 to 20, 2015, the command and supply ship (BCR) Sum integrated device naval maneuvers alongside NATO Baltops 50 buildings, including the Tripartite Mine Hunter (CMT) Eridanus.

The exercise, organized around a crisis scenario to secure and stabilize the area, allowed the 15 allied nations contributing to the NATO mission in Insurance Baltic. The operations carried out by the Task Force TF 162, under the command of US Vice Admiral James Fogo, aimed to ensure freedom of navigation, the fluidity of maritime traffic and the fight against arms trafficking, driving joint exercises of mine action, anti-submarine combat and air defense. The opportunity for the Allies to demonstrate their interoperability, still further, to the sea.


Only supply of force, and established Task Group autonomous logistics, Sommea Integrated Task Force TF 162. Pivot imposing a naval component deployed at sea for several weeks, the Somme has demonstrated the strategic importance of offshore oil support transactions. She refueled eleven foreign vessels during refueling at sea (RAM) double, issuing them more than 4 600 m3 and 100 m3 of F76 to F44.


In total, there are 15 operational refueling at sea that have been made, or as much RAM driven by Sommesur the last 8 months. A nice record for the crew, which has shown resilience, concentration and professionalism continuously sometimes chaining up to 17 hours of uninterrupted maneuvers. These many interactions have strengthened the interoperability of the tanker with foreign navies, but also increasingly mechanized and qualify the actions of personnel on complex technical maneuvers so dangerous.

Baltops is the second operational side of the mission Beluga 2015 Somme. This two-month deployment in the North Sea and Baltic began to BCR in April with exercise Dynamic Mangoose alongside the anti-submarine frigate (MDTF) Latouche Treville, where it already provides operational supplies Allied units at sea. in two months, the Somme has thus achieved 35 refueling at sea and delivered 6,811 m3 of F76.

In transit in Kiel from 19 to 24 June as part of year-end, the sum will be the first command ship and French supplies to transit through the Kiel Canal connects the Baltic Sea to the English Channel to reach Brest, where it will dock on June 27

7th A-400M delivered to Orléans

On 18 June 2015, two maritime patrol crews were qualified to GBU12 shooting procedures with self-designation.

This flight marks the end of a training course which confronts requiring crews to modern technologies of air-ground support missions thanks to the electro-optical turret WESCAM MX20HD embarked on Atlantic Standard 2 V.

The mission took place on the Biscarosse range. These shots were made under the DGA control for the trajectory of the ammunition and respect shooting conditions. The CENTEX PATSIMAR has meanwhile assured of compliance by crews dedicated procedures.

The shooting was a success.



Atlantique 2 can use this bomb but don' t have laser target designation system then he have need others aircrafts equiped with it as in Mali MQ-9 or FAC.