PARIS — On 11 April in Toulon, DCNS delivered the FREMM multi-mission frigate Auvergne to the French Navy, as stipulated in the contract. This frigate is the fourth of the series ordered by OCCAR1 on behalf of the DGA (French armament procurement agency).
Delivery of the FREMM multi-mission frigate Auvergne is the result of a design and construction process managed by DCNS in close cooperation with the French Navy, DGA and OCCAR teams.
This technological and industrial success employed many DCNS sites and its partners and subcontractors to ensure compliance with the industrial milestones, in particular the launching in September 2015 and the first sea outing in September 2016.
“The delivery of the FREMM Auvergne represents an opportunity to applaud the industrial and technological prowess of DCNS and its subcontractors. The frigate Auvergne illustrates our capacity to produce and deliver on time a series of front-line combat vessels to satisfy the needs of our client navies”, indicates Nicolas Gaspard, director of the FREMM programme at DCNS.
On completion, the FREMM programme will represent the construction of ten vessels on the DCNS Lorient site, of which eight for the French Navy. Six FREMM would have been delivered to the French Navy before end of 2019, in accordance with the 2014-2019 military programming law.
DCNS is currently completing the FREMM Bretagne, which was floated on 16 September 2016, and is pursuing the assembly of the FREMM Normandie. Furthermore, work has already started on the ninth FREMM in the series, the Alsace, which will be one of the two FREMMs with strengthened anti-aircraft capacities, whose deliveries are scheduled before 2022.
Overview of the FREMM series
• Aquitaine, first in the series, delivered in 2012
• Mohammed VI, delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy in 2014
• Provence delivered in June 2015
• Tahya Misr, delivered to the Egyptian Navy in June 2015
• Languedoc delivered on 16 March 2016
• Auvergne, delivered today
• Bretagne and Normandie, to be delivered in 2018 and 2019
• Alsace and Lorraine with strengthened anti-aircraft capacities to be delivered in 2021 and 2022
FREMM technical characteristics
Under the project management of DCNS, the heavily-armed FREMM frigates are equipped with the most effective weapon systems and equipment, such as the Herakles multifunctional radar, the naval cruise missile, the Aster and Exocet MM 40 missiles and the MU 90 torpedoes.
• Overall length: 142 metres
• Width: 20 metres
• Displacement: 6,000 tonnes
• Max. speed: 27 knots
• Crew: 108 persons (including the helicopter detachment)
• Accommodation capacity: 145 persons
• Cruising range: 6,000 nautical miles at 15 knots
DCNS designs, builds and supports submarines and surface ships. It also supplies services to shipyards and naval bases. The Group reports revenues of €3.19 billion and has a workforce of 12,779 employees (2016 data).
