French Navy receives fourth FREMM frigate ‘Auvergne’

French shipbuilder DCNS delivered the Marine Nationale’s fourth FREMM multi-mission frigate Auvergne on April 11, in Toulon.

Auvergne is also the fourth anti-submarine warfare (ASW) variant ship. The French Navy has a total of eight frigates in the class on order, six ASW and two anti-air warfare variants.

The frigate was launched in September 2015 and started sea trials in September 2016.

“The delivery of the FREMM Auvergne represents an opportunity to applaud the industrial and technological prowess of DCNS and its subcontractors. The frigate Auvergne illustrates our capacity to produce and deliver on time a series of front-line combat vessels to satisfy the needs of our client navies,” Nicolas Gaspard, director of the FREMM programme at DCNS, said.

DCNS is currently completing the FREMM Bretagne, which was floated on 16 September 2016, and is readying the assembly of the FREMM Normandie. The company further said that it started work on the ninth FREMM in the series, the Alsace, which will be one of the two FREMMs with strengthened anti-aircraft capacities, whose deliveries are scheduled before 2022.

The 142-meter long FREMM frigates are equipped with the Aster and Exocet MM 40 missiles and the MU 90 torpedoes. They can reach maximum speeds of 27 knots and have a range of 6,000 miles at a speed of 15 knots. The ships can be operated by a crew of 108, with the helicopter detachment included.