France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

thunderchief said:

cutting numbers to retain most modern and promising equipment . Much will depend on long delayed signing of contract with India on Rafale . There are growing demands in India to scrub entire deal , but again expeditionary actions like that in Mali are not urgent - they could afford to wait couple of months until carrier gets repaired .

P.S.

Btw , here is article on Wikipedia about French military cuts with details for navy :

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

tell that to the case central African republic. France is already starting to deploy there. And I doubt that's the last of it. France and England both keep strong ties to there former empires and right now alot of African states are starting to heat up again. Mali situation may have left the front page but its still unstable, violence in the CAR is boiling over and for the US Liberia is a bomb waiting to go off.
the French government made its call on its economy and now when they are needing the force they are lacking it. The UK is doing well for a Euro zone economy and if they can just get a government that knows its arse from a hole in the ground they might be able to pull off a rebound.so don't put the for sale sign up yet.
Any way if Brazil did put in a order for a new carrier from France it would not be till some time in the 2020s. And that means they might just be able to figure out that a 90% tax rate is stupidity.

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thunderchief said:

Troubles in CAR didn't start yesterday , but the media hype was aimed at different matters at that time . As I said before , French government can choose time and scale of their intervention . Bear in mind , CAR is land-locked country , so carriers have limited usability there . French will mostly likely use land bases in neighboring friendly countries .

Anyway , no matter how would you put it , UK and France are no longer first-rate world powers . Both countries have deep issues (economical , cultural , demographic etc... ) . This is not a matter of single good or bad government , those are systematic problems . Therefore , their military expenditures will be reduced either voluntarily , or by simple economic necessity .

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FORBIN said:

French White Paper on Defence and National Security

...nothing says for the moment in a way that the number eleven is abandoned.

For Aquitaine variant AA, confirmed 2 build.

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• The possibility of a new aircraft carrier has been officially abandoned.

• The possibility of a 4th Mistral-class amphibious assault ship has been officially abandoned.

• The 5 La Fayette-class light frigates which were re-classified as "1st rank frigates" in the 2008 white paper will be upgraded with a sonar.

• A reduction in the number of "1st rank frigates" from 18 to 15. The figure of 15 includes "less powerful combatants" such as the La Fayette-class.

• Expected deliveries of FREMM multipurpose frigates to the French Navy reduced from 11 to 8.

• The two Horizon-class frigates will be the two primary air-defence frigates in service with the Navy when the ageing Cassard-class are decommissioned. However the possibility remains that out of the 8 FREMM destined for the French Navy, 2 could be configured with enhanced air-defence capabilities (I.e the FREDA derivative).

• 6 light surveillance frigates to remain in service (the Floréal-class).

• A total of 15 offshore patrol vessels.

• The construction of 6 Barracuda-class submarines.

• The last of the Foudre class landing platform docks (L9012 Siroco) to be decommissioned.

• The white paper asserted that a naval task group would require "collaboration" with the Royal Navy to sustain operations. Bringing the Lancaster House treaties into practice.

Jeff Head said:

So, as I read this, the 15 "first rank frigates." will be:

2 x Forbin Class
8 x FREMM Class
5 x La Fayette Class

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FORBIN said:

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Wrong for FREMM, nothing says for the moment in a way that the number eleven is abandoned.

For Aquitaine variant AA, confirmed 2 build.

The 2 MQ-9 buy very soon, crew training finished.

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Les forces navales disposeront ainsi
de 4 sous-marins nucléaires lanceurs d’engins, de 6 sous-marins nucléaires
d’attaque, d'1 porte-avions, de 15 frégates de premier rang, d'une quinzaine
de patrouilleurs, de 6
frégates de surveillance, de 3 bâtiments de projection et
de commandement, d'avions de patrouille maritime, ainsi que d’une capacité
de guerre des mines apte à la protection de nos approches et à la projection
en opération extérieure.

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Des forces dimensionnées pour des opérations de haute intensité ou de crise
majeure, capacités de premier plan, polyvalentes, feux précis et puissants
•
Capacités clés représentatives : 6 SNA (5 type RUBIS + 1 BARRACUDA) ;
1 porte-avions nucléaire avec son groupe aérien ; 5 FREMM ; 4 frégates de
défense aérienne dont 2 d’ancienne génération ; 2 frégates anti-sous-marines
d’ancienne génération ; missiles de croisière MdCN, ASTER, Torpille lourde

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FORBIN said:

Deployment of three months for Charles De Gaulle carrier group

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View attachment 8729

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