Page 18 - Australian Defence Magazine Nov 2018

DEFENCE BUSINESS
FRANCE
The French industry connection
Naval Group's Lorient yard where the FREMM
are built.
JULIAN KERR | FRANCE
Although the French maritime industry has gained visibility in Australia in the wake of the Future Submarine decision, its scope and the wide-ranging capabilities it provides are not widely known.
WHILE the industry itself involves 42,000 direct jobs, 20,000 of these are within the defence sector. This produces annual reve- nue of around Euro 4.5 billion (AU$7.2 bil- lion), about 35 per cent of which is derived from exports.
Platform sales sourced from Naval Group (the former DCNS) are scattered widely – Scorpene SSK diesel-electric submarines and corvettes to Malaysia; Scorpenes to Brazil, Chile and India; amphibious assault ships, a frigate and corvettes to Egypt; and frigates to Taiwan, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.
The projected delivery to Australia of 12 Barracuda Shortfin Block 1A convention- ally-powered Future Submarines has swol- len the healthy forward order book for the company, an entity in which the French state holds 62.49 of capital and Thales 35
per cent, the remaining 2.5 per cent com- prising company and employees’ shares.
Nevertheless its primary focus remains on meeting the requirements of the country’s navy. It’s here that the full range of French de- sign and construction capabilities is apparent: nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) – at least one French nuclear-powered ballis- tic missile submarine has been permanently deployed since 1972 – nuclear attack subma- rines (SSN), a nuclear-powered aircraft carri- er, amphibious assault ships, anti-air warfare (AAW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW) and anti-submarine frigates (ASW), minehunt- ers, and offshore patrol vessels.
France’s policy of strategic independence and its emphasis on sovereign capability has ensured the in-country or collaborative development with European countries of
sophisticated naval systems ranging from missiles, sensors and ordnance to a plethora of subsystems, all of which add to the po- tential export inventory.
General Laurent Sellier, head of the naval armament operations unit of the French Procurement Agency DGA, told an inter- national media group that French Navy planning through to 2030 envisages the de- livery of five Barracuda class SSNs by 2025 – five are on order and a sixth is expected to be optioned to replace the six in-service Rubis class – together with five of a new class of 4,250-tonne multi-role frigates (Fre- gate de taille intermediaire- FTI) to replace five in-service La Fayette-class frigates.
Six Aquitaine-class FREMM antisubma- rine frigates will replace the Tourville and Georges Leygues classes and two Aquitaine-
18 | November 2018 | www.australiandefence.com.au
DCNS