Shipbucket

Hello again!

The first French post-cold-war warship class and the first European Stealth warship: The La Fayette-Class frigates.

Although designed in the 1980s, these ships already were tailored to post cold war requirements. They lacked ASW capability, being primary anti-air and antisurface platforms. They were neither very fast nor very powerful, but apparently a sturdy and well-liked design. Six were originally ordered, but one (F715 Ronarc'h) was cancelled before being laid down. The class ship La Fayette was commissioned in 1996.


From the fourth unit - F713 Jauréguiberry, renamed Aconit before commissioning - a different mast with more advanced ESM was fitted. The new mast was later retrofitted to all units of the class.


By 2015, all had received additional ESM and IR imaging equipment, and four 12,7mm HMGs to deal with asymmetric threats.


In 2017, the second ship, F711 Surcouf, was selected to serve as testbed for the Bluewatcher small ship sonar.


Three units - Courbet, La Fayette and Aconit, in that order - were modernized from 2021 with a Kingclip sonar, an anti-torpedo protection system, new optronic imaging and targeting gear, the latest Mod.3 version of MM40 Exocet, and two SADRAL sextuple SAM launchers in lieu of Crotale. They also were structurally strengthened.


Guépratte and Surcouf are not to be modernized and will likely be retired first. The other three will serve into the 2030s.

Cheers
GD

Very nice! Hope to see the current era of ships make its way into your Thiaria AU soon. These are very well drawn.

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RegiaMarina1939

Great job on the La Fayette!

I believe this ship is still in service
P701 Le Malin

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天滅中共全黨死清光!

Oh, the Lafayette class! Excellent drawings, GD! Very well done!

Well done, DP too! (Le Malin seems to be a ship for heavy seas!)

Excellent!! To us who remember the days when La Fayette being the unique "way ahead of its time" anomaly among warship this is a real treat

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Shipbucket mainsite, aka "The Archive"
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La Fayette is one of those few warships that I really like and the drawing are awesome to.

Excellent work!

Yep when the Layfayettes were new it was a shock to see something so plain and slab sided but these days its just looks like any other warship.

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Nice work as always!

There were some Necer Built Lafayette projects, I remember one with Aster missiles (envloved into Saudi Arabian Al Ridah).

Hello again!

FREMM-Class Frigates

Out of 17 planned units, only eight were built, six to replace the Georges-Leygues-class in the ASW role, two to replace the Cassard-class as AAW platforms. Compared with their Italian counterparts, they appeared austere (despite being more expensive), featuring a less sophisticated propulsion (CODLOG for 27 kts top speed rather than CODLAG for 30 kts), only one 76mm gun (the Italians had two, or one 127mm and one 76mm, depending on version) and only one helicopter (the Italians had space for two). On the plus side, the French ships are considered more stealthy, need fewer crewmembers and have twice the number of VLS cells: sixteen shallow ones for ASTER 15 SAMs and sixteen deep ones for both types of ASTER or SCALP/MdCN land attack cruise missiles.

The first two units – Aquitaine and Provence - were completed without side panels to their jammers (mounted side by side abreast the main mast). These were later retrofitted.


All others had them from the beginning, like Auvergne here.


The last two of the ASW version – Bretagne and Normandie – had deeper forward VLS cells and could mount ASTER 30 SAMS. Bretagne is the only one I’ve seen with another pair of HMGs forward, but then I’ve not seen all photographs there are of the class, so they probably all can mount them.


The final ASW unit – Normandie – had the second-lowest pennant number, because the original Normandie (second unit in the class) was sold to Egypt before completion, and the number was assigned to the new vessel of that name. She had an additional countermeasures launcher (I could not find out what type) aft between the life rafts and the 20mm remote weapon stations.


The same installation was retrofitted at least to one older unit, the Languedoc; I have not seen it on photographs of other units of the class, but again – there are more photographs of the class than I have time to check. Probably all others will be similarly retrofitted.


The class ship Aquitaine was photographed with an additional small radome (or something similar) in front of the bridge in 2023, but without the additional countermeasures launcher aft. I’ve not seen this installation on any of the others, which – as above – probably does not mean much.


The AAW variant had 32 VLS cells of equal depth, all suitable for ASTER 30, but not for SCALP/MdCN. They also had their navigation radars arranged slightly differently and an entirely new mainmast of very narrow profile, probably to improve all-round coverage of the Herakles main radar. The commo array was augmented. The first AAW ship, Alsace, commissioned with the same EO fire control system for her main gun as the ASW ships.


The second AAW ship, Lorraine, completed with radar fire control for the main gun. Alsace has since been retrofitted.


Cheers
GD

These FREMMs are awesome!

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