Barely a week after the entry into service of the frigate Bretagne, 5th unit of the FREMM class, it is the turn of the Normandy to start its sea trials. FREMM Normandie is the 6th unit of the multi-mission frigate class. Like Brittany, it will have sold off its 16 medium-range Aster 15 anti-aircraft missiles for long-range Aster-30 missiles, the same ones equipping the Forbin-class Horizon air defense frigates, and the 2 future FREMMs for Air Defense, Alsace and Lorraine, which will enter service in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
The FREMM Bretagne and Normandie retain their 16 MdCN naval cruise missiles, offering the vessel a land strike capability at more than 1500 km, a capability still rare in modern navies. On the other hand, they do not have the improvements reserved for FREMDA, particularly concerning the Herakles radar, to optimize anti-aircraft performance in order to make the most of the capabilities of the Aster 30.
The French Navy will have waited a long time for “its” Normandy. Indeed, the second French FREMM built, which was to take the name Normandie, was sold to Morocco to become the frigate Mohammed VI. In 2015, the third FREMM, once again baptized "Normandy", was sold to Egypt at the same time as the two Mistral Projection and Command Buildings initially built for Russia, and whose delivery had been canceled following the annexation of Crimea. The second “Normandy” was then renamed to become the frigate Tahya Misr.
Next step now, the launch of the Alsace frigate, scheduled for April 2019.