Naval Group has completed the modernisation of the third and last French Navy La Fayette-class frigate scheduled to receive such a refit, Aconit, after six months of work followed by a series of dockside and sea trials, the company announced on 13 February 2024.
With the delivery of this ship refurbishment, which was completed at the end of 2023, Naval Group has thus concluded a major modernisation programme involving three ships of the La Fayette class that now have new anti-submarine warfare capabilities and can continue to carry out their missions for five more years.
The other two vessels of the La Fayette class, Surcouf and Guépratte, are scheduled to undergo more modest structural and technical upgrades before being withdrawn from service in 2027 and 2031 respectively.
Notified to Naval Group in 2017 by the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), France’s defence procurement agency, the contract to modernise the La Fayette class covered the frigates Courbet, La Fayette and Aconit. In particular, the worksite made it possible to deal with a number of obsolescence issues, to modernise several systems and to add new capabilities.
Work on the first frigate, Courbet, began in October 2020 and the ship returned to sea in June 2021. The refit of La Fayette then began in October 2021 and was completed by November 2022. Work on Aconit began in February 2023.
Among the modernisations carried out was replacement of the ships’ original combat management system (CMS) with the Senit system developed by Naval Group, improvements to the ships’ optronic surveillance capabilities, structural strength and stability improvements, and replacement of the ships’ Crotale anti-air defence system with two renovated Sadral systems armed with latest-generation Mistral very short-range surface-to-air missiles.
Moreover, with the addition of a Thales KingKlip Mk2 hull-mounted sonar, the three La Fayette-class frigates now have an anti-submarine warfare capability.
The sea trials phase, carried out after the work was completed, demonstrated the ship’s manoeuvrability despite the increased displacement (several tonnes) and the addition of the sonar dome. It also confirmed that acoustic discretion levels were being maintained and that maximum speed targets were being met, as well as validating the integration of the sonar and the new combat steering system, which has improved performance.
