the third frigate of the series for the French Navy, made its first sea outing.

THE THIRD FREMM

OCTOBER 10, 2015

7 October, the FREMM Languedoc, the third frigate of the series for the French Navy, made its first sea outing. This industrial milestone marks the start of the vessel’s sea trials, which will take place off the coast of Brittany. With three FREMM multi-mission frigates currently under construction on the Lorient site, DCNS will have delivered six FREMMs to the French Navy before mid-2019, in accordance with the Military Programming Law 2015-2019, as well as two FREMMs for the export market.

Languedoc, the French navy’s third FREMM-class frigate, sails out of Lorient for its initial sea trials, which will test its propulsion and navigations systems. Six of these ships will be delivered by 2019 (DCNS photo)

DCNS has now completed the first sea outing of the FREMM Languedoc on the Lorient site, the third of the series of vessels ordered by OCCAR (l’Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement – Organization for Joint Armament) on behalf of the DGA (French Defence Procurement Agency) and the French Navy. During this first sea outing, the main objective was to test the performance of the vessel’s propulsion and navigation system.

The FREMM Languedoc will benefit from a significant reduction in the duration of its sea trials compared to the previous FREMMs: six weeks instead of the previous eight. This optimised trial duration illustrates the transition to «series mode» for the multi-mission frigates.

DCNS teams and those of its partners were thus able to capitalise on the experience acquired with the FREMMs already delivered to proceed with the integration of the combat system’s sensors and weapons before the FREMM Languedoc’s first sea outing. This streamlining of the scheduling allows an optimisation of the duration and number of sea outings for the frigate and therefore, in the end, a reduction in the total time required for vessel trials.

«The acceleration of the trial scheduling for the FREMM Languedoc is a demonstration of DCNS capacity to ensure efficient serial production», explains Anne Bianchi, Director of the FREMM Programme at DCNS.

In the medium term, the FREMM programme will involve for DCNS the construction of ten frigates, eight of them for the French Navy

Characteristics

Total length	466 feet/142 m
Width	65.6 feet/20 m
Displacement	6,000 tonnes
Maximum speed	27 knots/31 mph/50 km/h
Operation	108 persons (including helicopter detachment)
Accommodation capacity	145 men and women
Cruising range at 15 knots/17 mph/28 km/h	6,000 nautical miles/6,905 miles/11,112 km