Unless you live in North Korea or on Jupiter, you couldn't have missed the ceremony for the (non) launch of the French Navy's new Nuclear Attack Submarine, the Suffren, the first unit of its class eponym which will have 6.
This launch, which is causing a lot of media buzz, is indeed a determining moment, for the French Navy which must replace its SSN Rubis, for Naval Group and the French BITD which shows its technological excellence, and for the country, which remains in the club very closed of nations capable of designing and building nuclear submarines, which are of the latest generation, and which is limited to the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The Suffren is, above all, a technological marvel, integrating all the experience that Naval Group, Thales, MBDA and the entire technological ecosystem having participated in its manufacture, has acquired over the decades, and the various programs ranging from the Daphnée to the Triomphant, including the Agosta, the Rubis, the Redoutable and the Scorpène. It is also a high-precision weapon for the crews of the French Navy, who will be able to compete with, and even surpass, the British Astute and the American Virginia.
It is finally a political tool, through its capacity to remain submerged for several months, with unrivaled acoustic discretion even at cruising speed, new generation sonar and communication systems, and the capacity to fire MdCN cruise missiles. , therefore to discreetly strike any target located within 1000 km of an ocean or open sea.
But above all, the launch of Suffren marks, at the national, European and international level, the special status of France, and symbolizes the efforts to rebuild the country's military forces, neglected for too long. In this sense, it comes at a critical moment, when the Europe of Defense is struggling to find a model, and when voices in Germany believe that France should transfer its seat as a Permanent Member of the council to the European Union. of security. Because it is not the combined efforts of de Gaulle and Churchill to impose France in the camp of the winners of the Second World War which justify this position, but rather the 4 SSBN Triomphant, the 2 squadrons Rafale of the air component of deterrence, the PAN Charle de Gaulle, the only non-American nuclear aircraft carrier sailing on the seas of the globe, the FOT capable of projecting a brigade in a few days to pacify Mali, and the Suffren and its 5 sisters -ships, which justify the French position in this closed club. Neither Germany, nor any EU country (apart from the British and France), nor even the EU have any of these capabilities today.
The reconstruction of French military power needs symbols to send clear messages to the World and the Nation. And the launch of Suffren is a magnificent symbol.