French Barracuda-class submarine

2017 (planned)

4,765 t surfaced 5,300 t submerged

99.5 m

8.8 m

7.3 m

60 men (8 officers, 52 NCOs and men )

A pressurized water reactor

> 25 kn

4 × 533 mm torpedo tubes

The Barracuda class is a under construction class of nuclear-powered hunting submarines of the French Navy.

History

In 1998, the French Ministry of Defence, a commission with members of the Delegation Generale pour l' Armement, from the Direction des Constructions Navales, the Commissariat à l' énergie Atomique and Technic atoms, which should create a new class hunting submarines. In 2002, the feasibility study was completed and started the design phase of the project.

The end of 2006, a contract was signed with DCN, which amounts to 1 to 1.4 billion euros, by pulling all the options for six boats but can increase to 7.9 billion euros. From 2017, the boats are from a boat per two years to go at a rate in service until around 2027 and replaced the hunting submarines of the Rubis class.

Technology

The boats of the Barracuda class will be approximately 100 feet long and displacing nearly 5,000 tons; so that they are twice as heavy as their predecessors of the Rubis class. The depth should be more than 350 meters.

The boats are powered by a pressurized water reactor K15 with a capacity of 150 MW, with energy, the maximum speed should be at about 25 knots. Instead of a propeller, a propeller nozzle ring will be used.

Each boat is four torpedo tubes have a diameter of 533 mm. The armament will consist of a mixture of approximately 20 torpedoes, anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles. In addition, each Barracuda carry 12 commands that can be exposed to enemy coasts for special operations.

Units

The above Indienststellungsjahre be, as has been announced in mid- 2013 by the government to move for budget reasons with the exception of Suffren to the right, the Duguay- Trouin should now be 2020 at the earliest encounter the fleet.