On January 25, off the coast of Toulon, the crew of the La Fayette-class frigate Courbet was shaken. The ship was at the heart of an experiment aimed at testing its resistance to an explosion: a shock test.
Conducted at sea, this shock test makes it possible to test the resistance of a combat vessel during an explosion. This is one of the challenges of the POLARIS approach, initiated since 2021, because it is during these experiments in conditions closest to a real engagement that preparation for high-intensity combat takes on its full meaning.
The intensification of the preparation of crews for combat is explained by the hardening of the geopolitical context, as well as by the uncertainty it generates. In this context, the French Navy had also carried out in December 2024 a heavy F21 torpedo shot from a nuclear attack submarine (SNA) on the hull of the former Premier Maître L’Her . In December, it was the weapon that was the subject of the experiment. This time, it was the armor that was evaluated.