French Navy upgrade and discussion

installation of the PSIM on the frigate Amiral Ronarc'h
FhNkEneXoAIVdls

(the crew was able to train in/with the PSIM prior to installation on the ship)
 
The eighth and last FREMM of the French Navy, the FREMM DA (for air defense) "Lorraine" docked on November 10th at the Toulon naval base where the last tests will be carried out before her very first departure on Long Duration Deployment (#DLD) to the North Pacific Ocean!
The embarkation of the ASTER 15/30 will precede the departure in DLD
The DLD is used to test the ship, its systems, its installations on several oceans, several seas during several months.
The defects encountered during the DLD are to be taken up by the industrialist(s) concerned.
The "Lorraine" will benefit from an upgrade after tests, the equivalent of a technical stop.
Admission to active service to be decided (2023)
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(janes, nov.10):

French Navy outlines Indo-Pacific commitment​

The French Navy's aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (pictured) will soon deploy to the Indian Ocean, according to Admiral Pierre Vandier, chief of staff of the French Navy. (US Navy)

Admiral Pierre Vandier, chief of staff of the French Navy, has outlined France's commitment to expand deployments in the Indo-Pacific in a bid to bolster regional security.

In a briefing at the French embassy in Tokyo on 7 November with selected media including Janes , Adm Vandier said the French Navy is geared towards protecting its regional interests.

He said this effort is supported by deployed assets including 12 naval vessels, six patrol boats, and about 30 aircraft. The French Navy also deploys about 7,000 personnel in the region, he added.

Adm Vandier said such capabilities are intended to protect France's regional interests. More than 90% of France's exclusive economic zone is in the Indo-Pacific – including territories such as French Polynesia and New Caledonia – and “about 1.6 million French people are here”, he said.

France's commitment to the region is also supported by the French Navy's plans for the Jeanne d'Arc task force, said Adm Vandier. Jeanne d'Arc is an annual operation that seeks to familiarise the French Navy in maritime areas that are of strategic interest to France.

Adm Vandier said that the French Navy – as part of Jeanne d'Arc in 2023 – will visit South Pacific countries including Australia and Fiji.

He also revealed French Navy plans to send its Aquitaine-class FREMM multimission frigate Lorraine to the North Pacific. He added that the French Navy's aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will deploy to the Indian Ocean in the coming weeks.
 
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Nice.
So, All 3 nations have reached agreement for Workshare, Capital allocations, ToT(if any), export policy, etc.?
Of course not, that's never gonna happen. Germany is being adversarial and deliberately demands things that they know are unacceptable to France.
 
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Which is?
They insist on replicating the same kind of industrial strategies that led to the Eurofighter Typhoon and the NH90 helicopter, despite all the proofs that this doesn't work.

They want a very heavy aircraft, basically double the mass of the Rafale. Such an aircraft would not be carrier-capable, and therefore would be useless to the French navy.

They also refuse that the aircraft be nuclear-capable, since this a capacity would not be of use to them. Therefore, the aircraft would be useless to the the French strategic forces.

They want the aircraft to be sold only to EU and NATO countries, and to veto any sale to other countries (because, as you know, all countries not in NATO are human rights-violating dictatorships). Since the remaining market is entirely equipped with F-35 already, that means no export sales at all.

They still want to have the project be up for yearly approval by the Bundestag, so that they can constantly renegotiate everything and keep things on hold if they don't get their wishes.

They still want to have the full IP for any and all technologies involved in the aircraft, including those that were previously developed independently.

And in the meanwhile, they have gone ahead and bought F-35, as well as started a "sky shield" project to convince other EU countries to buy the US Patriot instead of the Franco-Italian SAMP/T. They've also broken their word on the MGCS project by shoehorning Rheinmetall in even though it was supposed to be 50% Nexter, 50% KMW. And they've also gone ahead and bought P-8 aircraft all while pretending to still get a role in the MAWS program. And they have declined to participate in the Tigre Mk.3 update because they want to replace them with Apache.

German idea is that they buy American, but the French are supposed to buy German so that the German industry survives. (And the French industry dies, which is the goal shared by the Germans and the Americans.)
 
They insist on replicating the same kind of industrial strategies that led to the Eurofighter Typhoon and the NH90 helicopter, despite all the proofs that this doesn't work.

They want a very heavy aircraft, basically double the mass of the Rafale. Such an aircraft would not be carrier-capable, and therefore would be useless to the French navy.

They also refuse that the aircraft be nuclear-capable, since this a capacity would not be of use to them. Therefore, the aircraft would be useless to the the French strategic forces.

They want the aircraft to be sold only to EU and NATO countries, and to veto any sale to other countries (because, as you know, all countries not in NATO are human rights-violating dictatorships). Since the remaining market is entirely equipped with F-35 already, that means no export sales at all.

They still want to have the project be up for yearly approval by the Bundestag, so that they can constantly renegotiate everything and keep things on hold if they don't get their wishes.

They still want to have the full IP for any and all technologies involved in the aircraft, including those that were previously developed independently.

And in the meanwhile, they have gone ahead and bought F-35, as well as started a "sky shield" project to convince other EU countries to buy the US Patriot instead of the Franco-Italian SAMP/T. They've also broken their word on the MGCS project by shoehorning Rheinmetall in even though it was supposed to be 50% Nexter, 50% KMW. And they've also gone ahead and bought P-8 aircraft all while pretending to still get a role in the MAWS program. And they have declined to participate in the Tigre Mk.3 update because they want to replace them with Apache.

German idea is that they buy American, but the French are supposed to buy German so that the German industry survives. (And the French industry dies, which is the goal shared by the Germans and the Americans.)
Thank you, this is a perfect answer and I share it. I wanted to try to answer Rasalghul but I couldn't synthesise it all.
 
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They still want to have the full IP for any and all technologies involved in the aircraft, including those that were previously developed independently.
Really? This demand is just too much. No,one is going to comply with it IMO.
IMO, They either don't want to collab with France or They think they have enormous leverage over France.
They still want to have the project be up for yearly approval by the Bundestag, so that they can constantly renegotiate everything and keep things on hold if they don't get their wishes.
Shades of Indian bureaucracy. LOL!
(And the French industry dies, which is the goal shared by the Germans and the Americans.)
Meh! You are reading too much.
 
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(opex360 (fr), nov.14)

atl2-20221114.jpg

The Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft upgraded to standard 6 declared fully operational by the Marine Nationale​

Launched in 2013 and entrusted to Dassault Aviation and the Service Industriel de l'Aéronautique [SIAé], the modernisation of the Aéronautique Navale's Atlantique 2 [ATL2] maritime patrol aircraft has just passed a final milestone.

On 14 November, the Ministry of Defence announced that the French Navy's Chief of Staff, Admiral Pierre Vandier, had signed the operational commissioning of the Atlantique 2 Standard 6. This capability milestone attests to the aircraft's ability to carry out the full range of missions assigned to it," he said.

The modernisation of the ATL2 will be somewhat delayed. Indeed, it was only in December 2020 that the first operational capability of the Standard 6 aircraft was validated by the French Navy, following an operational evaluation campaign conducted by the Naval Aviation Practical Experimentation and Reception Centre [CEPA/10S]. At the time, the MSO was expected to be delivered by the end of 2021, after the development of the SIMTAC NG tactical simulator and the mission preparation and recovery simulator.

For the moment, nine Atlantic 2s have been upgraded to Standard 6 out of the eighteen planned. This new version "has already demonstrated its full effectiveness during operations in the Baltic Sea, the central and eastern Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea, as well as off the French approaches as part of its participation in the maritime defence of the country", the Ministry of Defence said.

As a reminder, this standard 6 provides for the treatment of obsolescence, the transition to all-digital technology and the integration of new equipment [tactical computer, sensors, operator display consoles, optronic and acoustic intelligence systems, editor's note].

From now on, the ATL2 will be equipped with an increased detection capacity, thanks to the Searchmaster active antenna radar supplied by Thales, a new version of the LOTI mission software, a latest-generation digital acoustic processing sub-system and the TSA2542 IFF interrogator.

"This in-depth renovation of the Atlantique 2 makes it a competitive tool in the face of modern threats. Thus, until the end of their life, by 2035, the 18 aircraft upgraded to standard 6 will enable France to remain at the level of its most efficient allies," the Ministry of Defence stressed in its press release.

The ATL2, a "Swiss Army knife", will remain indispensable for a good ten years, especially for nuclear deterrence, insofar as its capabilities are used to "whitewash" the area around the Île-Longue base, which houses the four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines [SNLE] of the Strategic Oceanic Force [FOST]. Beyond this particular role, this aircraft can be used for surveillance, intelligence and strike missions [thanks to its capacity to carry four GBU-12 guided bombs]. // Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 
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(...) The French Navy's aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (pictured) will soon deploy to the Indian Ocean, according to Admiral Pierre Vandier, chief of staff of the French Navy (...)
(press release from the ministry of the armed forces, paris, nov.15)

ANTARES mission: deployment of the Naval Air Group around the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle

On 15 November 2022, the Groupe aéronaval (GAN) formed around the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle begins the Antares mission.
The 3,000 French and foreign troops of this international air-sea force are engaged in areas of strategic importance for French and European interests, in the Mediterranean and even in the Indian Ocean depending on the international situation.
The naval air group already includes Greek, Italian and American warships.
The Antares mission also prepares armies for high-intensity engagement with our allies, in all environments and fields.

The war between Russia and Ukraine represents a major threat to the stability and security of Europe. France, as a balancing power and leading military actor, is deploying the Carrier Battle Group as part of the Antares mission.

Alongside its allies and strategic partners, the carrier battle group contributes directly to the reinforcement of NATO's defensive and deterrent posture on the eastern flank of Europe, as well as to Operation Inherent Resolve in the Levant. The Carrier Battle Group remains capable of deploying to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. This deployment contributes to France's capacity for autonomous situation assessment, which is essential for crisis prevention.

In the face of the demonstrations of power by France's and Europe's main competitors, the GAN demonstrates France's ability to intervene while controlling any escalation. The naval air group's maritime and air operations are coordinated with the allies.

During the Antares mission, the GAN sailors prepare themselves in coalition for possible future engagements, whether hybrid or major, at the top of the conflict spectrum. The choice of the star Antares as the name of this deployment underlines the consideration of the warrior's cunning and of all the environments and fields of conflictuality, both in the face of current challenges and in the preparation of the wars of tomorrow.
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Amarante's bonus: the official patch of the Mission Antares
logo-mission-antares_b0e86434e5a5ae616e71545eea642f90.jpg

i see the Suffren Class sub.
1st naval air group escort mission; and maybe hunting for K560 Severodvinsk, Yasen Class, in eastern-mediterranean sea...
 
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The DGA Land Techniques centre in Bourges has begun the first ballistic protection tests of the new generation aircraft carrier (PA NG), necessary to define its structure.
With the firing of ammunition on targets representative of the protection of the hull of the #navire, this campaign will enable the design of its structure to be refined and the development of its armour to ensure the best possible resistance.