The Triomphant class of ballistic missile submarines
of the French Navy is the active class of four boats that entered service
in 1997, 1999, 2004, and 2010. These four supersede the older Redoutable-class,
and they provide the ocean-based component (the Force océanique
stratégique) of France's nuclear deterrent strike force, the Force
de Frappe.
The first three boats are all armed with the French-produced
and armed M45 intermediate-range missile, and the fourth vessel, Terrible,
has tested and is equipped with the more advanced M51 missile. Each of
the first three boats are to be retrofitted to the M51 missile standard,
starting with Vigilant in Winter 2010, then Triomphant and ending with
Téméraire in 2018.
SNLE-NG
In French, these are called Sous-Marin Nucléaire
Lanceur d'Engins de Nouvelle Génération (English: "Next Generation
Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine"), abbreviated as SNLE-NG. They have
replaced all of the Redoutable-class boats, with the last of those six
boats being decommissioned in 2008. These submarines carry 16 Submarine-launched
Ballistic Missile launching tubes apiece.
This class reportedly produces approximately 1/1000
of the detectable noise of the Redoutable-class boats (submarines), and
they are ten times more sensitive in detecting other submarines Initially
armed with the M45 Missile, they are designed to carry the new M51 missile,
which entered active service in 2010. As of October 2010, an M51 has been
test-fired from one of these submarines across the Atlantic Ocean from
near France to the west, and is equipped on the Terrible.
|
Name: |
Triomphant |
Builders: |
DCNS |
Operators: |
French Navy |
Completed: |
4 |
Class & type: |
Ballistic Missile Submarine |
Displacement: |
surfaced 12,640 tonnes
submerged 14,335 tonnes |
Length: |
138 m (453 ft) |
Beam: |
12.5 m (41ft) |
Draught: |
10.6 m (34.8 ft) |
Speed - Surfaced: |
25 kn |
Range - Surfaced: |
unlimited |
Complement: |
111 |
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