"The French Frigate Normandie." Topic

"The FREMM Normandie returned to port on Saturday 8 March on the DCNS site in Lorient, at the end of its third series of sea trials. This frigate is the second of the series ordered by the French DGA (General Directorate for Armament) for the French Navy. OCCAR is the contracting agency for the FREMM program on behalf of France and Italy.

Another series of trials for the FREMM Normandie, conducted off the Brittany coast and lasting one week was completed on 8 March. These trials over several days allowed the DCNS teams to pursue their verification of vessel platform performance as well as the performance of certain combat-system sensors. Two initial phases of frigate testing already took place in November 2012 and January 2013. With regard to the platform, the trials are focused on the propulsion system and, in particular, on the CODLOG (COmbined Diesel eLectric Or Gas) hybrid system. This propulsion system allows the FREMMs to advance silently at low speed – thanks to the electric motors – or reach speeds in excess of 27 knots thanks to the vessel's gas turbine. In addition to these propulsion tests, the DCNS teams also verified the navigation systems (speed calculations, position, bearing) as well as the inertial units, which allow a very precise positioning of the vessel whatever its location on the oceans…"

Full article and video here.
link

Beautifull ship.

Amicalmeent
Armand

Very nice lines on her. But that off center rotating radar is distracting. Notice that there no rails on the bow? I wonder if they automatically deploy or is that a manual effort. And what is that swing arm thing aft that seems to be motor driven? Could it be a torpedo counter measure launcher?

Good questions.

Amicalement
Armand

Nexter Narwhal 20mm Remote Weapon System fitted onboard FREMM Frigate Normandie

"The latest images of FREMM Normandie sea trials released by DCNS show for the first time the Narwhal Remote Weapon System installed on a French Navy FREMM. Building on its experience gained with light naval mounts for small craft (15A/15B) and with technologies implemented for turreted canon for helicopters, Nexter Systems developed the remote-controlled naval gun mount known as Narwhal in the 20mm configuration.

In its basic configuration, the Narwhal consists of a gyrostabilised mounting armed with a 20mm cannon, a day camera and a fire-control system which is remotely-controlled from a control panel enabling system operation, target acquisition and tracking and fire opening by the operator…"

Full article and video here.
link

Amicalement
Armand