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Barracuda - Program

Since the 1980s, the main attack submarines of the French Navy have been the Rubis-class nuclear submarines. Even in the 20th century, these warships were nothing special. And after more than 30 years, they were completely outdated and needed to be replaced. It is these that the Suffren-class submarines are called upon to replace. The company Naval Group, previously known as DCNS or DCN, was chosen as the contractor. In the early 1910s, this company became famous thanks to its projects of futuristic submarines SMX-25 and SMX-26 "Cayman" . No one ordered the so-called submarines of the future, but one look at these projects is enough to understand that DCNS employs real experts in their field, who are not afraid of advanced engineering solutions.

In 1998, the French Government Agency for Defense Procurement created a joint project group consisting of representatives of the naval staff, engineers from DCNS, Technicatome and the Atomic Energy Commission. This team was tasked with developing a new nuclear submarine for the French Navy. "Barracuda" was chosen in 1998 as the name of the future Sous-marins Nucléaires d'Attaque [SNA] program. It takes its name from the famous carnivore living near the coast and in deeper waters. This great marine hunter has a powerful jaw to shred his victims caught by surprise. The first ANS from the Barracuda program would be called Suffren , the following would be named Duguay-Trouin, Tourville, Dupetit-Thouars, Duquesne and De Grasse.

In October 1998, the Delegation Générale pour l'Armement, the French government's defence procurement agency, established an integrated project team consisting of the Naval Staff, DCNS (now known as Naval Group), Technicatome, and the Atomic Energy Commission, the regulatory body that oversees nuclear power plants, to oversee the design of a new class of attack submarine. DCNS was to be the designer and builder of the submarine, and Technicatome (soon acquired by Areva) was to be responsible for the nuclear propulsion system. The two companies were to act together as a single prime contractor to share production risks, manage schedules, and be responsible for the project's execution and costs, which were then estimated at US$4.9 billion.

In 1998, the French Ministry of Defence created a joint project group “Barracuda” comprising members of the Délégation Générale pour l'Armament, DCNS – responsible for the development of the platform and the general contractor for the shipbuilding; Technicatome – the organization responsible for the nuclear energy system, the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) – the French nuclear regulatory agency. The feasibility study for the Barracuda class was successfully completed in 2002 and the programme entered the project definition phase in late 2002. The French defence procurement agency DGA awarded DCNS and Areva TA (the prime contractor for the nuclear power plant) a contract for the design, development and production of the first Suffren-class submarine.

Barracuda-type SSNs were planned to replace the current Rubis/Améthyste class between 2017 and 2028. DCN has primary responsibility for the design and construction of the Barracuda-class submarines. The hull and final componene integration would be completed at the Cherbourg shipyard. Propulsion work would be conducted at the DCN's factory at Indret while combat systems would be overseen at the Toulon plant.

The Barracuda-class submarines are meant to eventually replace the Rubis-class submarines once these start reaching the end of their useful life between 2012 and 2023. The future attack-submarine program was launched by the French Minister of Defense on 14 October 1998. The design-phase of the Barracuda-class SNA program began in June 2002 with the start of the development phase expected to begin in 2005.

The arrival of such a generation of nuclear submarines requires an adaptation of the infrastructures of the ports of reception to ensure the support and the maintenance in operational condition. The Defense Infrastructure Service (SID) provides the Navy with project ownership through the Reception and Support Barracuda program. The study and pre-project phases are in the final phase, the first works was visible in the ports of Brest and Toulon in 2014. The submarine navigation school (ENSM / BPN Toulon) was also expanded to accommodate in summer 2015 six simulators training and training SNA crews of the Suffren type.

In October 2003 the French Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) awarded a contract to Thales Underwater Systems for an integrated sonar system for the nuclear ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) Le Terrible, the fourth ship of the Le Triomphant class. The same sonar system would be used by the new Barracuda-class nuclear attack submarines (SSN), destined to replace Rubis and Amethyste class submarines between 2012 and 2022. The new sonar was to be a part of the Barracuda class integrated combat system.

Six submarines were expected to be produced, with delivery starting in 2015. Production of six Barracuda-class submarines was expected to begin around 2012 with a rate of production of one submarine every two years. As of late 2006 the first Barracuda SSN was scheduled for delivery in 2016.

On 22 December 2006 French defence procurement agency DGA announced that it has awarded the Barracuda SSN contract to the DCN group and partner Areva-TA. The contract calls for the delivery of six new-generation nuclear-powered attack submarines, or SSNs, and through-life support services during their first years of operational service.

The program has been split into an initial contract (tranche firme), followed by six options (tranches conditionnelles). The contracts cover design, development, production and through-life support. The initial contract was worth over €1 billion out of a projected total of €8 billion over 20 years. The first Barracuda SSN was scheduled for delivery in 2016. The group's contribution would be led by DCN Cherbourg supported by Lorient, Indret, Ruelle, Toulon and Saint-Tropez along with industrial partners in several regions of France.

Within the DCN/Areva TA program consortium, DCN would act as the submarine prime contractor, including responsibilities as overall architect, platform and propulsion system prime contractor, systems integrator, nuclear safety studies coordinator and through-life support prime contractor while Areva TA would act as prime contractor for the nuclear powerplant.

Expressing his satisfaction with the contract, DCN Chairman & CEO Jean-Marie Poimbœuf said: "In the same way as the FREMM programme has given our surface combatant business new visibility, this contract gives our submarine construction business production visibility extending 20 years into the future." For Areva TA Chairman & CEO Dominique Mockly, "This contract gives us significant production visibility in shipboard powerplants and while enabling us to maintain our skills base in nuclear propulsion for warships.

DCN was a major player on the European and world markets for value-adding naval defence systems. As a naval prime contractor, shipbuilder and systems integrator, DCN combines resources and expertise spanning the naval defence value chain and entire system lifecycles. DCN offers client navies a wide range of innovative solutions from integrated warships to strategic systems, equipment and services.

Following his 2007 presidential election victory, one of Nicolas Sarkozy's first acts was to order a total spending review of all ongoing French defence projects. The spending plan was expected to take into account the observations and recommendations of a Defence White Paper published in April 2008. A draft of the White Paper presented on 21 May 2008 contained bad news for the Navy calling for the reduction and delay of a number of the navy's flagship programs. The document suggested that the French navy could do with fewer than the 17 FREMM multimission frigates that Paris intends to order and added that while France should proceed with the construction of six new Barracuda nuclear attack submarines, the delivery dates should be stretched for budgetary reasons.

The October 2008 White Paper stated that "Nuclear attack submarines (SSNs) carrying conventional cruise missiles are a priority. Due to their stealth and virtually unlimited range, they represent versa-tile strategic systems that can be used for intelligence, protection of the SSBNs, escort of the aircraft-carrier or special operations. The White Paper sets a target of six SSNs. Cruise missiles would thereafter be carried by aircraft as well as by naval assets, based on a development emphasising a high commonality between both versions."

The ‘first cut’ ceremony for the new boat was held 26 June 2009 at DCNS’s Cherbourg shipyard. The cutting of the first plate for Barracuda n°2 in Cherbourg this morning marks the first milestone of the boat’s production cycle. The ceremony was attended by principal weapons engineer (IGA) François Pintart, head of the DGA’s Naval Management Unit, Jacques Chenais, head of the French Atomic Energy Commission’s Nuclear Propulsion department and Pierre Quinchon, SVP of DCNS’s Warships Division.

As of mid-2010, the expected cost of the Barracuda program was of 7,9 billion Euros(€).

As of 2012, the first submarine, named Suffren, was expected to be delivered in 2016 and commissioned in 2017. The 99-meter-long black steel boat was named after Pierre-André Suffren, an admiral who distinguished himself in the 18th century. In 2015, the commissioning of the first in class [Suffren] was postponed to 2018 as a result of budget difficulties. Commissioning of FS Suffren, originally planned for 2017, was set for 2018. The realization launched in 2006 should lead to the delivery of the first vessel in 2019.

As a subsidiary of AREVA group, AREVA TA designs, carries out, operates and maintains in operating conditions energy supply systems for naval propulsion and vital systems for transportation. AREVA TA proposes its customers engineering, equipment and services combining safety, availability and reliability, throughout all life-cycle of complex facilities. AREVA TA belongs to the Reactors & Services branch of AREVA group and employs 2.000 people.

In January 2008, GE Oil & Gas was selected by DCNS to provide the turbo-generators and propulsion turbines for the French Navy's new fleet of six nuclear submarines, which are scheduled to enter service between 2016 and 2027. DCNS, the European leader in naval defense systems, recently awarded Thermodyn, the Le Creusot-based turbo-machinery division of GE Oil & Gas, a contract to provide two turbo-generators and one propulsion turbine for the Suffren, the first of the six submarines ordered under an initial contract as well as for each of the other five ships ordered under optional contracts.

The turbo-generator-rectifiers would supply electric power to the propulsion and to the auxiliary systems. GE's propulsion turbine, which drives the propeller, would supply the required mechanical power to the submarine when at top speed. These condensing-type turbines are highly customized to address the French Navy's specific requirements, including very low noise and vibration levels, to provide the submarine with maximum speed and stealth capabilities.

In January 2008, Wellman Defence Ltd had been awarded a contract for the supply of its latest design of Oxygen generation system for the French Navy’s new SSN submarine, The Barracuda Class. The contract was for the supply of 6 submarine sets of equipment and logistic support. The program was expected to have duration of 15 years and would utilise Wellman’s latest design of HDPE electrolyser. This followed a similar contract award for the UK Royal Navy’s Astute Class submarine Boat 04.

Europe’s leading space company Astrium had developed a binding carbon dioxide (CO2) regenerative process for the International Space Station (ISS). Carbon dioxide was exhaled by human beings as a metabolic by-product and was noxious in high concentrations. It must therefore be removed from the air of any ‘closed’ atmosphere such as the space station or in submarines. This technology developed by Astrium was now to be used on board the latest French submarine series ‘Barracuda’. Astrium was awarded the development and supply contract for this by the naval defence company DCNS in Cherbourg.

As the global underwater activity grows, the renewal of the SNA allows France to control maritime areas and thus guarantees the possibility of ensuring deterrence via nuclear submarines launchers (SNLE). The BARRACUDA team was made up of some fifty technical experts, architects and managers from the DGA, experts from the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) and operational managers from the Navy. More than 100 subcontractors and SMEs are involved in this program, in France and in Europe. In total, several thousand people participated.

A total of 65 submariners (men or women) would train the SNA crew Suffren . To adapt them to the new technologies of this building, the submariners had already been trained for 3 years on simulators. The Suffren armament crew , commanded by Commander Axel Roche, was officially formed on 11 July 2019.

On 12 July 2019 the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, launched in Cherbourg (northwest) the "Suffren", first of a series of six new nuclear attack submarines (SNA), more discreet and more heavily armed. The first French submarine launched for more than ten years, the "Suffren" was the series head of the Barracuda class submarines, of which 12 conventional diesel-electric propulsion units were sold to Australia. "It is not only submarines that you build here, what you build is the independence of France, our sovereignty ... our statute of great power in the world," Macron said, before the 99-meter long black steel mastodon, and about 700 guests at the ceremony, including Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds.

"Today we celebrate an industrial success," the 17th French nuclear submarine, said Hervé Guillou, PDG of the Naval Group, which built the submarine with TechnicAtome for the nuclear reactor. For 12 years, 800 companies and more than 10,000 people participated in its construction. For the CEO of Naval Group, the Barracudas are "the best submarines in the world, at extremely attractive prices and with exceptional operational capabilities." It places us in the first division "worldwide, he stressed.

The cost of the program (development and construction), which was three years late, amounts to 9,100 million euros, that is, "approximately 1,000 million per vessel, 30 or 40% less expensive than those of our European partners," he said. The "Suffren" would be put in the water at the end of June, first for tests at the dock, then at sea and its delivery to the National Navy was scheduled before the summer of 2020.

The inaugural ceremony was also the occasion to announce the order of the 6 th SNA of the series BARRACUDA ( Casabianca ) to Naval Group and Technicatome. In accordance with the commitments of the Military Planning Law (LPM) 2019-2025, the 6 SNA BARRACUDA are now all ordered. The first 4 would be delivered by 2025. With the Suffren, Duguay Trouin, Tourville, De Grasse, Rubis and Casabianca, currently in different stages of construction, would allow the gradual withdrawal of the first generation SNA.

With nearly 1 million parts to assemble, submarines are the most complex objects to manufacture in the world. A high-performance machine equipped with a 5-axis milling head accommodates 350-ton parts on a 14-meter platform; three presses with a capacity of 2,000 tons to 12,000 tons “cold form” the body elements using super-specific steels. Like civilian aircraft, submarines are assembled by joining different sections, i.e. actual submarine sections of about twenty meters in length. Each Barracuda consists of 5 sectors: A at the rear carries the propulsion system, intermediate sections B, C, D integrate the central navigation and control station, the combat system, the reactor compartment and the crew's living quarters, and the bow section E is equipped with missile launchers and ballast tanks.

The Suffren, the first of six nuclear attack submarines (ANS), arrived on July 28, 2020 the Naval Base of Toulon. This was an important stage in the sea tests of the first submarine in the Barracuda program . Coordinated by the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) and carried out by the French Navy, the sea tests allow to verify the correct functioning of the various systems and equipment of the submarine, before its qualification and, then, its delivery to the French forces. After the first immersion in Cherbourg, in April, several tests were carried out at sea to ensure that the submarine was sailing safely and to test its performance, both technical and operational. The continuity of tests in the Mediterranean would be led by the French Navy crew who would be supervised by DGA engineers and technicians, the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy Commission (CEA), the Naval Group and TechnicAtome , in addition to their partners and subcontractors.

On 10 August 2023, the second French nuclear multipurpose submarine built under the Barracuda program, called Duguay-Trouin, was commissioned. It took 14 years to build, they say, Covid messed things up. Indeed, the first boat of this series, Suffren, was built in only 13 years.

On November 16, 2024, the French Armament Agency (DGA) received the Tourville in Brest , the third of six nuclear attack submarines (SNA) built under the Barracuda program. The submarine was immediately transferred to the French Navy. This delivery comes after four months of sea trials conducted by the DGA, the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the crew of the French Navy, which confirmed the robustness and capabilities of the submarine.

In accordance with the 2024-2030 Military Programming Law, the DGA was continuing the renewal of the French SNA fleet, which was now halfway through. Deliveries of the three remaining SNAs would be staggered until 2030. The delivery of the nuclear attack submarine (SNA) Tourville comes at the end of a four-month sea trial campaign that began on July 12, 2024 with the ship's first sea voyage. Throughout this phase, the unique expertise of the Barracuda program's state and industrial teams was used to monitor and carry out all the tests, under the leadership of the DGA and the ship's conduct by the French Navy. These tests, which were successfully carried out, made it possible to gradually verify the performance of the submarine's equipment and systems thanks to the collaborative work of a team of experts bringing together sailors, DGA, CEA, Naval Group and TechnicAtome.

During its trials carried out off the coast of Cherbourg, Brest and Lorient, the Tourville was required to carry out:

• A first static dive, that was to say an immersion without powered movement, to check the weight and stability of the submarine;
• Surface and underwater tests, intended to check the speed of the submarine, and more generally all of its performance and behavior at different immersion depths, as well as the safety and operation of the installations, including its nuclear boiler room;
• Underwater tests to verify the proper functioning of its combat system, including its ability to deploy its weapons and communicate.

The French Navy was now able to begin the operational testing phase with a view to the admission to active service of the Tourville, scheduled for 2025. These operational tests would make it possible to verify the ship's military performance in conditions of use close to those in theatres of operation.

The six submarines ordered by the DGA as part of the Barracuda program would renew the French Navy's nuclear attack submarine (SSN) component by 2030, which currently consists of Rubis-type SSNs commissioned in the 1980s. The first two Barracuda SSNs , the Suffren and the Duguay-Trouin , were respectively admitted to active service in June 2022 and April 2024. The other three submarines in the Barracuda program ( De Grasse , Rubis and Casabianca ) are currently at different stages of construction, and their deliveries would be staggered until 2030.

Like their predecessors, the Barracuda program SNAs are equipped with nuclear propulsion, which gives them a remarkable range and discretion. They are faster, more durable and more versatile than the previous generation SNAs, with their new capabilities for deploying special forces and striking land targets located several hundred kilometers away, using the naval cruise missile (MdCN). They represent a technological leap that allows France to remain in the very select club of nations that implement modern and efficient SNAs.