Redoutable class (1967)
Redoutable class
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| General data | |
| Ship type : | Submarine ( SNLE ) |
| Navy : | French Navy |
| Builder : | DCN ( Cherbourg ) |
| Units: | 6 (including L'Inflexible ) |
| Boats of the class | |
| Le Foudroyant , L'Indomptable , L'Inflexible , Le Redoutable , Le Terrible | |
| Technical specifications | |
| Crew: | 135 men |
| Displacement : |
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| Length : | 128.7 m |
| Width: | 10.6 m |
| Draft : | 10 m |
| Drive : |
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| Speed : | |
| Range: | practically unlimited |
| Diving depth : |
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| Electronic equipment | |
| Navigation - Radar : | Thomson DRUA 33 |
| Radar detector : | ARUR 12 |
| Sonar : |
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| Underwater telephone: | DUUX 5 |
| Armament | |
| Torpedo tubes : |
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| Ballistic missiles : | 16 * M 4 MSBS |
The Redoutable class was the first class of nuclear submarines of the French Navy . The strategic submarines were used by the Force océanique stratégique , the maritime arm of the Force de frappe , since 1971 . The nuclear submarines were armed with 16 medium-range ballistic missiles . The last submarine in the class was decommissioned in 2006.
The Redoutable class was replaced by the Triomphant class submarines .
Details
In the 1950s France planned to build a nuclear submarine. Construction of the Q 244 project, armed with torpedoes, began in 1955, but was canceled as early as 1958.
A nuclear-powered submarine ( Sous-marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins - SNLE) armed with nuclear missiles was called for as a new target at the beginning of the 1960s .
The decision to build the first French nuclear-powered submarine armed with strategic nuclear weapons was made in March 1963. The development project included the construction of the conventionally powered test submarine Gymnote (S 655) . The test submarine entered service in 1966 and was the first French strategic missile submarine.
The first unit Le Redoutable (S 611) was laid down in 1964 and put into service in 1971 after two and a half years of testing. The Le Terrible (S 612) followed in 1973 . The two boats were originally armed with M 1 missiles . The solid rocket was a French in-house development based on the American Polaris , had a range of 2,400 km and a nuclear warhead with a charge of 500 kT .
The third boat, the Le Foudroyant (S 610) , entered service in 1974. It was armed with M 2 missiles . The missiles had the same warhead, but had a range of 3,100 km. During regular visits to the shipyard, the two older boats were also armed with M-2 missiles .
The L'Indomptable (S 613) , commissioned in 1977 as the fourth boat, was armed with M 20 missiles . The missiles had the same range and accuracy as the M 2 , but were equipped with a 1.2 MT warhead. The Le Tonnant (S 614) , which entered service in 1980 , was also armed with these missiles. The older boats were converted accordingly.
All five boats were enabled for the use of the Exocet guided missile in the mid-1980s and equipped with a more modern sonar . The Exocet , developed in France, can be launched with the help of torpedo tubes , is conventionally armed and is used against surface ships.
In 1985 the L'Inflexible (S 615) was put into service. The modernized design represented an intermediate step to the Triomphant class , differed fundamentally from the older submarines and is viewed as a separate class. Among other things, the L'Inflexible was armed with M 4 missiles . The M 4 missiles are almost twice as heavy as their predecessors, have a range of 4,000 km and are each equipped with 6 MIRV (autonomous warheads) of 150 kT.
With the exception of Le Redoutable (S 611) , all other boats then experienced an increase in combat value for the use of M 4 missiles :
| boat | modification |
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| Le Tonnant (S 614) | 1987 |
| L'Indomptable (S 613) | 1989 |
| Le Terrible (S 612) | 1990 |
| Le Foudroyant (S 610) | 1993 |
The lead ship of the Le Redoutable class (S 611) was decommissioned in 1991 and is now a museum ship . The publicly accessible submarine in Cherbourg is the largest museum submarine in the world.
In April 2001 the L'Inflexible (S 615) successfully launched an M 45 rocket . The M 45 represent an intermediate step to the M 51 missiles under development . They have new warheads with stealth properties , higher penetration speed and improved resistance to EMP . Despite global protests, the nuclear warhead was tested in the last French nuclear weapons tests on Mururoa in 1995/1996 .
The six submarines were stationed on the Île Longue off Brest . Each boat had a red and a blue crew . The crews were always on duty for two months and then swapped with the second crew of the respective boat. This principle of rotation and the colors for the layers are common on all French submarines today.
All submarines of the class including the L'Inflexible (S 615) have since been decommissioned.
Boats of the class
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Le Redoutable (S 611)
- Keel laying : November 1964
- Launched : March 29, 1967
- Commissioning: December 1, 1971
- Decommissioned: December 13, 1991
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Le Terrible (S 612)
- Keel laying:
- Launched: December 12, 1969
- Commissioning: January 1, 1973
- Retirement: July 1, 1996
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Le Foudroyant (S 610)
- Keel laying: December 12, 1969
- Launched: December 4th, 1971
- Commissioned: July 6, 1974
- Retirement: April 30, 1998
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L'Indomptable (S 613)
- Keel laid: December 4th, 1971
- Launched: August 17, 1974
- Commissioning: December 23, 1976
- Decommissioned: 2003
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Le Tonnant (S 614)
- Keel laid: October 19, 1974
- Launched: September 17, 1977
- Commissioning: April 3, 1980
- Decommissioned: December 16, 1999
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L'Inflexible (S 615)
- Keel laid: March 27, 1980
- Launched: June 23, 1982
- Commissioning: April 1, 1985
- Out of service: 2006
See also
- List of French submarine classes
- Redoutable - other French ships with the same name
Web links
- Technical data ( French )
- Construction data of the boats (French)
- Information on submarine-based strategic guided missiles (SLBM)
literature
- Chris Chant: Modern submarines technology-tactics-armament , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 1st edition 2005, ISBN 3-7276-7150-5 .
- Robert Hutchinson: KAMPF UNDER WASSER - Submarines from 1776 to today , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 1st edition 2006, ISBN 3-613-02585-X .
- Werner Globke (ed.): Weyers Flottentaschenbuch / Warships of the World - Fleet Handbook , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn, 66th year 2005-2007, ISBN 3-7637-4517-3 .
Remarks
- ↑ a b c d The L'Inflexible (S 615) is a transition design to the Triomphant class and the only submarine in the L'Inflexible class .
- ↑ The name means terrifying in the French language . Other French ships bore this name, see Redoutable