DCNS completes ‘Aquitaine’ sea trials

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aquitaine
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France: FREMM frigate Aquitaine, berthed at DCNS's Lorient shipyard on November 25 after three weeks of successful sea trials. The ship is to be delivered to the French Navy in the third quarter of 2012.

The trials, during which DCNS teams pursued integration and testing of the combat system under the supervision of the French defence procurement agency (DGA), were conducted in the Atlantic off Lorient and off Groix Island in the Bay of Biscay. 'Aquitaine' was crewed by French Navy personnel, with staff from DCNS conducting the tests under the supervision of representatives of the DGA and of OCCAR, the contracting agency for the FREMM programme. Following the trials, the ship made its first call at its future home port of Brest to test interfaces with the port's communication systems and mooring facilities.

The success of the latest trials comes as DCNS continues to ramp up construction of the state-of-the-art FREMM frigates. With the first steel now cut for 'Languedoc', a total of five FREMM frigates ('Aquitaine', 'Mohammed VI', 'Normandie', 'Provence' and 'Languedoc') are now at different stages of construction at the DCNS shipyard in Lorient.

The French FREMM programme calls for 12 ships – 11 for the French Navy and one for the Royal Moroccan Navy. FREMM frigates are designed to respond to all types of threats with unparalleled flexibility and availability. The vessels have a length overall of 142 metres, a beam of 20 metres, and a displacement of approximately 6,000 tonnes. With a maximum speed of 27 knots and a range of 6,000 nautical miles at 15 knots, they can carry a complement of 108 (including helicopter crew) with accommodation for 145 men and women.

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