The French Ministry of the Armed Forces has once again placed its trust in Thales to maintain the French Navy’s operational superiority in underwater detection capabilities. The sonar suite developed by Thales will detect, locate and classify all types of threats at short, medium and long range and provide an unprecedented level of underwater situational awareness. As naval forces contend with a growing array of threats and challenges, submarines remain one of their most strategically important assets. The four SSBNs in the French Navy’s Strategic Oceanic Force (Force Océanique Stratégique, FOST) are deployed to provide a permanent nuclear deterrent. The DGA contract covers the design and development of the sonar suite for the third-generation SSBNs and the detailed design and deployment of the sonar suite for the second-generation vessels.
“This new contract reflects the DGA’s continuing trust in Thales to support its highly strategic nuclear deterrence-related operations. The latest innovations developed by dedicated Thales engineers for the current and future generations of SSBNs will provide the French Navy with a comprehensive acoustic picture of the underwater environment to counter current and future threats, helping to consolidate its position as one of the world’s leading naval forces,” Gwendoline Blandin-Roger, Vice President, Underwater Systems, Thales said.
A set of disruptive technologies developed by Thales will ensure the acoustic superiority of France’s submarines in the years ahead. New large-format arrays housing multiple sensors will provide unparalleled levels of precision in their threat detection capabilities. The new sensors will generate significantly larger volumes of data than earlier systems. The ALICIA data processing system (Analyse, Localisation, Identification, Classification Intégrées et Alertes) will use advanced Big Data algorithms, with intuitive user interfaces to optimise operator workload and provide decision support.
The Strategic Ocean Force (French: Force océanique stratégique, FOST) has been the synonym of the French Submarine Forces since 1999, which the commandant commands the ensemble related to, along with the squadron of nuclear attack submarine (French: Escadrille des Sous-Marins Nucléaires d’Attaque, ESNA).The French Strategic Ocean Force Command ALFOST was set up in 1972 under a Squadron Vice-Admiral. The mission of a French Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine is simple: leave the designated port of attachment, in the most discreet possible way, remain undetectable all along the mission to be able at any moment launch a nuclear strike, under orders of the President of France.
