On November 16, 2022, the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) received the Lorraine, the second multi-mission frigate with enhanced air defense capability (FREMM-DA). This is the eighth and final FREMM.
Anti-submarine warfare and augmented air defense
Like the first six FREMM (Aquitaine, Provence, Languedoc, Auvergne, Brittany and Normandy), delivered to the French Navy between 2012 and 2019; the last two, Alsace received and delivered on April 16, 2021 and Lorraine on November 16, 2022, have advanced skills in anti-submarine warfare. But they have a complementary reinforced air defense capability (FREMM-DA). Thus, they benefit from evolutions of their combat system, an optimized mast called “wasp waist” and an increased radar detection range. The crew is also reinforced by a dozen sailors.
3 million hours of work and more than 500 SMEs/ETIs involved in the program
Designed and developed by Naval Group, approximately 600 to 700 Naval Group employees and around thirty subcontracting companies work for the program every day. More than 500 SMEs/ETIs are involved in carrying out the program. These SMEs and ETIs are located throughout the national territory, around a hundred of them in Brittany.
The backbone of the French surface fleet
The FREMMs are stealthy, versatile, durable and flexible to use, equipped with advanced automation. These ships provide the Navy with an anti-submarine warfare capability recognized as being among the most efficient in the world.
Their main missions are the control of a maritime area of operation, on the surface and under the sea, the support and support for projection operations, as well as the precision strike in the depth of the earth with the naval cruise missile ( MdCN) for the first six FREMMs, a capacity that only France has in Europe from a surface ship. They are also capable of deploying the Caïman marine, a multi-role on-board helicopter, equipped with a particularly developed anti-submarine warfare capability. The FREMM/Caiman couple represents a capability leap in the field of anti-submarine warfare. The FREMM can also embark two Ecume, the largest tactical boat of the marine commandos.
A program conducted in cooperation with Italy by OCCAR
The FREMM program is conducted in cooperation with Italy by the Joint Organization for Cooperation in Armament Programs (OCCAR), on behalf of the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) for the French side.
By 2030, the Navy will have fifteen first-rate frigates: eight FREMM (including two FREMM-DA), two air defense frigates (FDA) and five defense and intervention frigates (FDI). In accordance with the 2019-2025 military programming law, this is the delivery of the eighth and last FREMM
