Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - (Page 14) Warning : session_start : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 9 Warning : session_start : Cannot send session cache limiter - headers already sent output started at /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php:9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 9 Warning : Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by output started at /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php:9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 10 DISPATCHES GLOBAL DONE DEAL France moves ahead with biggestever naval project CHRISTINA MACKENZIE • PARIS F rance has ensured its future among the world’s most powerful navies by formalizing a financing deal that will stretch payments on its new nuclear-powered attack submarine through next year. French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie confirmed during the Euronaval show in Paris in October that the deal would be signed by year-end. But it was held up in the finance ministry until just hours before businesses closed for the holidays while officials considered whether the three-part delivery contract for the first vessel—signed in November by joint prime contractors DCN and Areva TA—was a better way of moving forward than the single procurement preferred by financiers. The six-vessel, € 7.9-billion $10.4-billion Barracuda sub program was signed on Dec. 21. Col. Pascal Lucas, who was responsible for the Barracuda program until last July at the DGA, the French arms procurement agency, explains that to compensate for a shortage in 2006 funds, the partners agreed to split the contract for the first submarine into three pieces: the first signed on December 21 worth € 1.4 billion, the second for € 600 million to be signed in 2007 and the third for € 1 billion in 2008. Col. Thierry Perard, the DGA’s current Barracuda program director, says the contracts for each of the remaining five submarines will not be split in this way. Total costs for the program have exploded, with a first estimate of € 3.8 billion in 2001 soaring to a final price of €7.9 billion, which includes the nuclear core of the reactor but excludes a removable dry deck shelter atop each sub for commando operations. Nevertheless, Perard claims, the sub’s cost is “about one and a half times less than for similar submarines in other countries.” The Barracuda will replace the 2,300-ton Rubis-class submarine, “which will be more than 30 years old in 2016, so this program is really essential for the navy,” says Cdr. Guillaume Martin de Clausonne, the Barracuda program naval officer. He says the navy wanted a submarine that “could be deployed far and for a long time,” had land-strike capabilities which the Rubis does not , and fulfilled anti-surface ship, anti-submarine and special operations missions. Stealth, in terms of acoustic quieting, is one of the Barracuda’s principal techno- logical advances. “In order to achieve this, we had to make it bigger to provide more space for sound- and shock-absorbing equipment,” Lucas says. For example, the engine will be suspended. Because the navy expects the Barracuda to spend one-third of its time at periscope depth in relatively shallow waters, the sub has to be very mobile. To improve its maneuverability, the rudder and diving planes are arranged in a “St. Andrews cross formation,” dispensing with the need for sail planes or bow planes. “This arrangement the Rubis-class boats, but it will offer additional accommodations for either 10 passengers or 15 commandos. The commandos “will be accommodated in somewhat more spartan conditions,” notes de Clausonne. When the commando team is on board, the Barracuda will carry—piggyback style behind its sail—a 25-cu.-meter 883cu.-ft. dry deck shelter for the team’s minisubmarines and other equipment. The crew will have marginally more space than in the Rubis class, with notably more headroom between wider bunks. De Clausonne says the ship has been designed to accommodate female crewmembers—although the French navy does not currently allow them—by arranging accommodations in sixbunk rooms and adding a third shower. “That means we’d have to have at least six women aboard,” he says. The sub’s 12 officers will have two-bunk rooms. He adds that crews will be changed every 70 days, “or 90, eating biscuits,” without the DCN France plans to build six Barracuda nuclear-powered attack submarines. Each will take 10 years to be built and commissioned. also enables the ship to make much tighter turns than with the conventional cross formation,” de Clausonne explains. The Barracuda will displace 4,765 tons 5,297 tons dived . It will be 99.4 meters 326.2 ft. long and 8.8 meters 28.9-ft. wide. The sub will have a cruising speed of 25 kt. and will be able to dive beyond a depth of 350 meters. It will be the first French submarine to be equipped with optronic masts instead of the traditional periscope. “The masts will work in visible light mode, infrared mode and light-intensification mode,” explains Alain Aupetit, director of the program at DCN. The Barracuda will be able to carry up to 24 weapons, including the future Scalp Naval cruise missile, the future heavy torpedo, the SM39 anti-ship missile and mines. Its crew will number 60 personnel, 15 fewer than on submarine having to return to its home base in the Mediterranean port of Toulon. The vessel, Aupetit says, has been designed to allow easy access for ordinary repairs but will spend 10 weeks per year in maintenance. It will be able to sail for a decade before an 18-month-long major overhaul, a three-year improvement on the Rubis-class subs, which need one every seven years. “This is thanks to improvements to the engine and notably to the fuel,” explains Dominique Mockly, chief executive officer of Areva TA. The fuel will be identical to that used by France’s civilian nuclear electric power stations. Each submarine will be “made up of a million parts, compared to 100,000 for a fighter aircraft and 50,000 for an Airbus, which will provide 30 million man-hours of work for 2,000 shipyard personnel,” notes DCN CEO Jean-Marie Poimboeuf. ■ www.aviationweek.com/dti 14 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007 Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in Unknown on line 0 Warning : Unknown : Failed to write session data files . Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct /var/lib/php/session in Unknown on line 0 http://www.aviationweek.com/dti Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Think Small Barracuda Eurocarrier Italian Protection Wet Leatherneck Infantry Mainstay Water Rescue Laser Beamrider Catching Up Calm Bombs Cutting Edge On the Record Perspective Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - (Page 1) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - (Page 2) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - (Page 3) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - (Page 4) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - (Page 5) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Contents (Page 6) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Contents (Page 7) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Around the World (Page 8) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Around the World (Page 9) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Science Watch (Page 10) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Tech Watch (Page 11) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Think Small (Page 12) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Think Small (Page 13) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Barracuda (Page 14) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Barracuda (Page 15) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Barracuda (Page 16) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Eurocarrier (Page 17) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Italian Protection (Page 18) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Italian Protection (Page 19) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Wet Leatherneck (Page 20) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Wet Leatherneck (Page 21) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Wet Leatherneck (Page 22) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Infantry Mainstay (Page 23) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Infantry Mainstay (Page 24) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Infantry Mainstay (Page 25) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Water Rescue (Page 26) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Water Rescue (Page 27) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Water Rescue (Page 28) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Water Rescue (Page 29) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Laser Beamrider (Page 30) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Laser Beamrider (Page 31) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Laser Beamrider (Page 32) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Laser Beamrider (Page 33) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Catching Up (Page 34) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Catching Up (Page 35) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Catching Up (Page 36) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Catching Up (Page 37) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Calm Bombs (Page 38) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Calm Bombs (Page 39) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Calm Bombs (Page 40) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Calm Bombs (Page 41) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Calm Bombs (Page 42) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Calm Bombs (Page 43) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Cutting Edge (Page 44) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Cutting Edge (Page 45) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - On the Record (Page 46) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - On the Record (Page 47) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - On the Record (Page 48) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - On the Record (Page 49) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Perspective (Page 50) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Perspective (Page 51) Defense Technology International - January/February 2007 - Perspective (Page 52) http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.