French Navy’s new nuc-submarine test-fires Exocet SM39 and Naval Cruise Missile

The Suffren, the first-in-series of the six nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) in the Barracuda programme, successfully completed the test firing of an MdCN (Missile de Croisière Naval) naval cruise missile from the sea near the DGA missile test centre at Biscarrosse, the French Minister of Defence announced on 20th October.

“For the first time, a French submarine has fired a cruise missile. This success gives our Navy a new strategic capability and places it among the world’s best. This new weapon is a real breakthrough, the result of years of effort and investment, enabled by the 2019-2025 military programming law. I want to congratulate everyone – in the Navy, the DGA, and industry – who made this firing possible. Until now, France’s submarine force could strike submarines and surface ships. Henceforth, it can destroy heavy land infrastructure at long range.” Minister parly said in the statement.

The firing completes the qualification phase of the integration of all Suffren’s weapon systems, carried out as part of its sea trials, conducted by the DGA (France’s Defence Procurement Agency) since last April.

This success marks a key stage in the Suffren’s trials with a view to its final qualification by the DGA. The Suffren will be delivered to the French Navy by the end of 2020, before entering active service in 2021.

This test firing of the MdCN naval cruise missile – following careful preparations by teams from the DGA, the French Navy and the manufacturers MBDA and NAVAL GROUP – is the last milestone in a series of tests designed to verify the correct functioning of the Suffren’s armaments and of its combat system in general.

With a range of several hundred kilometres, the MdCN is tailored for missions against infrastructures of high strategic value. After the Multi-Mission Frigates (FREMM), the Suffren-class SSNs are the first French vessels to be equipped with this conventional deep strike capability. The ability to deploy the MdCN from submarines maintains the constant and undetected threat of a strike from the sea against enemy targets located far inland, and very significantly increases the penetration capacity of French weapons in military theatres of operation.

During its trials in the Mediterranean, the Suffren also successfully completed a test firing of an Exocet SM39 underwater-launched anti-ship missile from the sea near the DGA missile test centre on Île du Levant, as well as several test firings of the F21 heavy torpedo, a next-generation weapon that will ultimately be carried on all French Navy submarines.

The validation of the Suffren’s entire combat system paves the way for the end of sea trials and its overall qualification, which will enable it to be delivered to the French Navy for final verification of its military characteristics and commissioning for active service.

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