Naval Group has launched the FREMM Lorraine on Friday 13th November. This ship was ordered by the French General Directorate of Armament (DGA) on behalf of the French Navy. The program management is entrusted to the Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR). The FREMM Lorraine is the tenth unit of the FREMM series produced by Naval Group, and the eighth and last one added to the French Navy’s fleet. It is also the second FREMM frigate of the FREMM Defense Aérienne (DA), presenting an enhanced air defence capability. Fifty-four months after the start of the production, the FREMM DA Lorraine left the construction form of Naval Group site in Lorient.
Technical adaptations have been made on both FREMM DA such as a more powerful multifunction radar supplied by Thales, enhanced communications, three additional consoles of the Setis Combat Management System in the “central operations center” with an enhanced air defence capability through the use of Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. The FREMM DA also benefits from a new mast, optimized to increase detection performance. In addition to performing the same anti-submarine warfare missions as the previous FREMMs, the FREMM DAs will be responsible for the air defence of major units: Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, or amphibious helicopter carriers (PHA) as part of the naval or amphibious air group.
More generally, the FREMM frigates integrate the evolution of systems over time to ensure the latest units of the series benefit from the latest technologies such as: additional cyber capabilities, deployment of Liaison 22 (liaison between NATO military units), integration of a tactical digital table, etc. Naval Group’s site in Lorient offers industrial infrastructures that enable us to meet the technical and technological challenges of the latest generations of military ships, including a 15,000 m2 covered construction form. The design tools and methods have evolved considerably during the FREMM program thanks to virtual reality.
The FREMM program has been running on a stable schedule since the last Military Planning Law. Eight units of the FREMM series have been delivered between 2012 and 2019. Aquitaine in 2012, Provence in 2015, Languedoc in 2016, Auvergne in April 2017, Bretagne in July 2018 and Normandie in July 2019. Alsace was launched on April 18, 2019 and will be delivered in 2021. Internationally, the Mohammed VI was delivered to Morocco in 2014 and the Tahya Misr was delivered in Egypt in 2015. FREMM DA Alsace is heavily armed and uses the most powerful weapons systems and equipment such as the Herakles multifunction radar, the Aster 15 and 30 and Exocet MM 40 missiles and the MU 90 torpedoes.
