Defence Business: A French connection for Australia

Editor Katherine Ziesing explored two of their upcoming offerings into the ADF on a recent trip to France; the Shortfin Barracuda for Sea 1000 and the FREMM for Sea 5000.

Katherine Ziesing | France

As ADM readers will no doubt be aware, the Commonwealth is running a competitive evaluation process (CEP) to choose a design partner for the Future Submarine. The contenders are the Japanese government with a variant of the Soryu, TKMS of Germany with the Endeavour class (based on Type 216) and DCNS of France with the Shortfin Barracuda (based on the SSN Barracuda pictured at right). All three entities submitted their final information to the Commonwealth on November 30, 2015.

DCNS may be leading the charge for the Shortfin but make no mistake, this is a whole of country effort. From the President and French Chief of Navy (see box) to the various industry partners that DCNS is marshalling both in France and Australia, this is a concerted campaign based on solid technical and strategic foundations.

Throughout the entire campaign, DCNS has refused to go into detail about the exact technical specifications of the Shortfin Barracuda in the public domain for reasons of security. This is based on the argument that the public, if given enough information on this front, can backwards engineer the capability of the Shortfin.

That being said, a tour of their submarine building facility at Cherbourg in the north and French Navy submarine base at Toulon in the south of France was enlightening.

In Cherbourg, the first of class for the SSN Barracuda is well underway as the first of class is due in the water in 2017. Almost the entire production line for the Barracuda is indoors, with a series of massive halls home to vast amounts of high tensile steel in various states of circularity. It was quickly brought home the size and scale of the program as large loops of steel went from flat sections to perfectly round cylinders that will form the pressure hull while others, the outside skin.

The working conditions of the floor were also a change compared to many Australian yards. For heavy industry, Cherbourg is remarkably . . . clean. Yes, there are huge machines and depending on the time of day, an army of welders and other trades, but the place is a well-run modern production line. OHS is a clear priority for all workers, with many welding tasks for example, being done vertically instead of horizontally, to prevent eye injuries and provide an easier workspace. The principles of every lean manual you’ve ever read are clearly in place.

As mentioned earlier, DCNS will not disclose the finer details of their technical solution but there are facets they are willing to share. The Barracuda class will use technology from the Triomphant class, including pump jet propulsion. This class reportedly produces approximately 1/1000 of the detectable noise of the Redoutable-class submarines. The Barracuda type will use X-shaped stern planes.

Again, the company refused to elaborate on propulsion details in terms of generators, batteries, fuel cells, motors or AIP. The only AIP boats DCNS have constructed were for Pakistan’s two Agosta class submarines that used the MESMA system.

The Barracuda boasts non-penetrating optronic masts, hybrid propulsion, modularised design for either deployment of special forces or UUVs in either wet or dry arrangements, and room for growth. It will also incorporate the latest diving/safety and damage control technologies combined with the Shipmaster integrated platform management system (PMS).

All of these systems were tested on land based test sites before being integrated into the final design. Many parts of the submarine were also realised in a virtual reality simulator where DCNS engineers and French Navy members were able to ‘explore’ what the functional spaces would be like and answer questions like can I reach this pipe easily?

Australian media were allowed to wander through the first of class with DCNS and French Navy representatives. The nuclear section of the boat was being constructed in a sealed containerised section of the hall, above the submarine itself. The reactor will not be delivered until the boat is almost complete.

Unlike their US counterparts, and more like the UK, the nuclear section of the Barracuda is sealed. This means that once the rods are in place, they stay there; no replacements. So captains of French boats, despite the fact they are nuclear with so called endless power, still need to make power trade offs. At the end of their life, both French SSNs and SSBNs, want to have their rods as spent as possible while still providing an operational envelope that allows them to fulfil their missions.

FRENCH NAVY CHIEF FIRMLY BEHIND DCNS SEA 1000 BID

Speaking to Australian media, the Chief of Staff of the French Navy Admiral Bernard Rogel explained that the French Navy has never been busier around the globe.
A distinguished submariner, having commanded both SSN and SSBN submarines, Admiral Rogel was keen to highlight the coalition nature of the operations that the French Navy has been taking part in for well over a decade now.
“We have the closest relationship with the US than we have ever had, particularly on operations,” Admiral Rogel said, speaking about the close working relationship the French Navy has with allies both in their region and internationally. “We cooperate in every domain including submarines.”
Regarding the DCNS Shortfin Barracuda bid for Sea 1000 under the CEP, Admiral Rogel was supportive of the program more broadly as it related to the strategic engagement between France and Australia.
“There are no problems in cooperating with the Australian navy on submarine technology,” he said. “If the Australian navy was to ask for sensitive technology like signatures, it's not an issue. We're already working together in so many ways.”
The French Navy is also due to head up the carrier group in the Gulf under Task Force 50, with the Charles De Gaulle carrier leading the way. The task group will be made up predominantly of US, UK and French ships with Australia also providing a frigate in the mix, ADM understands.
“We have a very close relationship with the US Navy,” Admiral Rogel said in response to direct questions about the working level relationship between the nations. “We're totally interoperable with the USN and have conducted numerous missions to support that.”
When DCNS representatives say they have support at the highest levels from the French government and Navy, they truly do.
“What counts to me is the reaction of the Australian government and no one else – when it comes to their decision making,” Admiral Rogel said. “For the French Navy, this would be a welcome occasion to reinforce an already good relationship should we have similar technologies.”

And all this is what Australia would have access to under a detailed technical transfer program should DCNS be successful. The French Government, Navy, DGA (the French version of CASG) and DCNS are offering the ‘crown jewels’ of their nuclear submarine program – signature management, stealth, generations of design knowledge gained from generations of development and an ongoing relationship to share future technology. All of this is implicit in the Shortfin Barracuda offering.

Comments from the Commandant at the Toulon Navy base, Captain Sebastein Moloingne, who has captained both SSNs and SSBNs for the French Navy, confirmed this approach.

“Australia would have access to anything and everything we have to offer, both on the technical and people side,” he said.

Sustainment

A huge part of this approach is also the sustainment aspect of the Barracuda program. The design is envisaged to have the Australian equivalent of a full cycle docking every 10 years. Both Barracudas encompasses what engineers call soft patches – man and machine sized holes in the pressure hull – that can be removed for ease of access.

The male and females sides of the soft patches match together so that increased pressure on the hull squeezes them tighter together. These are akin to the ‘sunroof’ sections that have been removed from the Collins class hulls but are designed to be removed. Australian industry learnt from hard experience that it is much easier to work on parts in a workshop rather than inside the submarine itself.

The French Navy's FREMM Languedoc alongside in L'Orient. Credit ADM Katherine Ziesing

DCNS Australia has been engaging with local supply chain providers in Australia for some time now, travelling the length and breadth of Australia to explain their proposition. As ADM has reported previously, even a hybrid build with some boats constructed in France and some in Australia, the company is aiming for a minimum of 75 per cent Australian content (up to 90 per cent for an all Australian build) so as to position the country to effectively be able to support the Future Submarine.

Perhaps the most recent of these companies has been WA’s Civmec, perhaps the only facility in Australia with the capital equipment in place large enough to roll sections of the pressure hull. As this edition of ADM went to press, the company was due to complete a demonstration model of a pressure hull section.

From the outside looking in, DCNS Australia has made significant effort on the AIC side of the equation.

Note: ADM Editor Katherine Ziesing travelled to France as a guest of DCNS. Many thanks to the DCNS and French Navy personnel who made the trip possible.

FREMM FOR SEA 5000

Touring the French FREMM Languedoc as her insides received their finishing touches, it’s easy to see why the French Navy are happy with their newest class of frigate. Born originally of the joint program between Italy and France, the respective variants don’t have much in common apart from their name anymore. The Italian variant is roughly 900 tonnes more and has different armaments and sensor/payload systems in place. Both, however, are propelled by CODLAG with gas turbines and electric motors. Unsurprisingly, Selex appears on more the Italian systems while Thales fulfils many of the same roles on the French variant such as weapons, sonars, communications, and combat management system.
The lead ship of the class, Aquitaine, was commissioned in November 2012 with Languedoc due to join the fleet in early 2016. In France the class is known as the Aquitaine class, while in Italy they are known as the Bergamini class. Italy has ordered six general purpose variants and four anti-submarine variants; the last two Italian general purpose FREMMs will have anti-aircraft warfare, anti-ballistic missile and surface attack capabilities. France has ordered six anti-submarine variants, and two air-defence variants.
The current plan is to deliver six ASW variants to replace the Georges Leygues-class frigates by 2019, followed by two anti-air variants to replace the ageing Cassard-class frigates. A decision will be taken in this year on what version the remaining three will be. In 2014, the French Navy's Chief of Staff, Admiral Bernard Rogel, confirmed that 11 FREMM frigates had been ordered but in 2015 the order was cut to eight in order to allow the purchase of five FTI Mid-Size Frigates from 2023. A far cry from the original 17 ships envisaged for the class.
Nonetheless, the design has proven popular globally. Both Morocco and Egypt have bought the French FREMM, with the Egyptian Navy taking one almost straight off the Lorient production line before investing in their own yard to build the design with technology transfer from DCNS to support the sale.
As a possible contender for Sea 5000, the ship was examined by the RAND report. ADM also understands that both Navy and CASG personnel have also visited DCNS’ Lorient shipyard to tour Languedoc both alongside and at sea.
Once again, the DCNS case for a detailed technology transfer program will be at the heart of their offering ADM suspects. Lessons and approaches from the Lorient shipyard in France and the Alexandria shipyard in Egypt would be applied to the Australian context, with an appreciation that this process will make or break the construction program.