The first sea trip of the SNA Tourville , marking the start of sea trials of the ship, constitutes a crucial step in the Barracuda program. The achievement of this milestone follows completion works and a series of dockside tests , carried out since the transfer of the submarine from the Naval Group construction hall in Cherbourg to the launching device in July 2023. After testing the equipment installed on board, it was launched into the water in the Cachin. These tests made it possible to verify the proper functioning of the submarine’s various systems and equipment, its watertightness, as well as its propulsion, with the start-up of the nuclear boiler room, also known as “first divergence”, on April 24, 2024. .
After a first stage in the English Channel and a return to the basin at Cherbourg, sea trials will lead the Tourville to carry out trials in the Atlantic . All of these sea trials will be carried out by the submarine’s crew and according to a sequence set by engineers and technicians from the DGA, the CEA’s Military Applications Department, Naval Group and TechnicAtome . Their objective is to progressively verify all of the technical and operational capabilities of the submarine. They will last until its delivery scheduled for the end of 2024.
Throughout the sea trials phase, the ship remains the property of Naval Group and TechnicAtome . It is placed under the responsibility of the French Navy for its operational command and in its capacity as delegated nuclear operator. Project owner of the Barracuda program, the DGA and the CEA are responsible for the tests until the ship is received and delivered to the French Navy.
The six submarines ordered by the DGA as part of the Barracuda program will renew by 2030 the component of the nuclear attack submarines (SNA) of the French Navy, made up of Rubis-type SNAs put into service from The first two SNA Barracuda, the Suffren and the Duguay-Trouin , were admitted to active service in June 2022 and April 2024, respectively.
Like their predecessors, the nuclear attack submarines of the Barracuda program are equipped with nuclear propulsion which gives them a remarkable range and discretion. They are faster, more enduring and more versatile than the SNA of the previous generation with their new capabilities of implementing special forces and striking land objectives located several hundred kilometers away , using cruise missiles . naval. They represent a technological leap which allows France to remain in the very restricted club of nations which implement modern and efficient SNAs .
