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French Navy - Marine Nationale Forbin class Guided Missile Frigate (HORIZON large air-defense Frigate / Frégate de Défense Aérienne) |
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| 03/22 | |
| Ships: | |
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D 620 FS Forbin (2010) D 621 FS Chevalier Paul (2011) |
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| Specifications: | |
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Builder:
DCNS (now Naval Group), Lorient, Brittany, France Displacement: 7050 tons (full load) Length: 153 meters (502 feet) Beam: 20.3 meters (67 ft) Draft: 5.4 meters (18 ft) / Depth: 11.8 m (39 ft) Speed: 29+ knots (54 km/h), max. Range: 6100 NM (11000 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h) / 3500 NM (6500 km) at 25 knots (46 km/h) Complement: up to 190 Propulsion: CODOG (Combined Diesel or Gas) 2 x General Electric/Avio LM2500+ Gas Turbine (20500kW / 27491 hp, each) 2 x SEMT Pielstick 12PA6 STC Diesel Engines (4320 kW / 5793 hp, each) 2 shafts, 2 controllable pitch propellers 1 x bow thruster (1 MW)
Aviation: flight deck (24,8x16 m) & hangar for 1 helicopter NH90 Caiman or similar Systems: Selex ES EMPAR phased array G-band multi-purpose radar BAE/Thales S1850M 3D long range radar Selex ES RTN-30X fire direction radar Sagem IRST Vampir MB infrared search & track system GEM Elettronica AN/SPN-753(V)4 navigation radar 2 x Oto-Melara SCLAR-H chaff/decoy launching system 2 x SLAT (systeme de lutte anti-torpille) anti-torpedo decoys Thales UMS 4110 CL sonar Selex ES IFF SIR R/S SIGEN electronic warfare system Elettronica 4100 Nettuno ECM system |
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The Horizon class is a class of air-defence destroyers in service
with the French Navy and the Italian Navy, designated as destroyers
using NATO classification. The programme started as the Common New
Generation Frigate (CNGF), a multi-national collaboration to produce
a new generation of air-defence frigates. In Italy the class is
known as the Orizzonte class, which translates to "horizon" in
French and English. The UK then joined France and Italy in the
Horizon-class frigate programme; however, differing national
requirements, workshare arguments and delays led to the UK
withdrawing on 26 April 1999 and starting its own national project,
the Type 45 destroyer. Development: France, Italy and the UK issued a joint requirement in 1992 after the failure of the NATO Frigate Replacement for the 90s (NFR-90) project. The resulting CNGF programme consisted of the Horizon frigate and its Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS). Problems emerged almost immediately: the primary problem was that of differing requirements: France wanted anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) escorts for its aircraft carriers, but only a limited range was necessary due to the self-defence capability of Charles de Gaulle. Italy too required only close-range capabilities, as in its home waters of the Mediterranean Sea the ships would operate under Italian Air Force cover or escorts for its aircraft carrier Cavour. The Royal Navy, however, required more capable ships which could throw a large defensive "bubble" over a fleet operating in hostile areas. The compromise which largely solved this problem was the adoption of a standard radar interface which allowed France and Italy to install the EMPAR multi-function passive electronically scanned array radar and the UK to install the more capable SAMPSON active electronically scanned array radar – the SAMPSON radar has a higher data rate and an adaptive beam that allows a greater ability to track multiple targets, long-range detection of low-RCS targets, a lower false-alarm rate, and overall higher tracking accuracy. An international joint venture company (IJVC) was established in 1995 comprising the national prime contractors, DCN (France), GEC-Marconi (UK) and Orizzonte (Italy). In the period 1995–1996 significant arguments, changing requirements and technological problems led to the slippage of the in-service-date of the frigates to around 2006. In early 1997 a disagreement emerged as to the choice of vertical launching system (VLS) for the PAAMS Aster missile. France and Italy favoured their own Sylver Vertical Launching System, while the UK was leaning toward the American Mk 41 - capable of firing the Tomahawk land attack missile. This issue was eventually resolved when the SYLVER launcher was selected by the PAAMS development team. UK withdrawal: On 26 April 1999 the UK announced that it was withdrawing from the CNGF project to pursue its own national design. The Financial Times summarised the main disagreements between the partner countries: - Vessel size - The UK wanted a large destroyer which could patrol large areas such as the Atlantic, compared to France's desire for smaller aircraft carrier escorts and Italy's intention to use them in the Mediterranean. An agreement was reached but the Financial Times reported that the issue "never entirely [went] away." - Capability - As noted above the UK wanted the ships with a wide-area defence capability due to its experience in the Falklands War. The selection of differing radars largely resolved this. - Industrial structure - The UK tried to use its larger requirement to exert influence; the UK's desire to see Marconi appointed as prime contractor was accepted by France, but only in return for DCN being given the role as prime contractor for the combat management system. The UK, which wished to see a British Aerospace-led consortium given this role, would not accept this. The resulting Type 45 Daring class Destroyer is armed with the PAAMS missile system and has benefited from investment in the Horizon project. Franco-Italian project: France and Italy continued their collaboration under the Horizon project. In September 2000, the two countries signed a contract to jointly produce four ships, ordering two ships each which would deploy the PAAMS missile system. The Italian Navy ordered two units, Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio, to replace the Audace-class destroyers. Andrea Doria was accepted on 22 December 2007 and received the flag of the Italian Navy. Full operation capability was achieved in the summer of 2008. The French Navy ordered two units, Forbin and Chevalier Paul to replace the Suffren-class carrier escorts. The project cost France €2.16bn (~US$3bn) at 2009 prices. A further two Horizons were cancelled; instead the two Cassard-class frigates were to be replaced by the FREDA air-defence variant of the Franco-Italian FREMM multipurpose frigate. France has bought forty Aster 15s and eighty Aster 30s for her ships. On the Italian units the three cannon will be upgraded to the 76/62mm Super Rapid Multi Feeding David/Strales version with the capacity to use the DART guided projectile in the anti-missile role. source: wikipedia |
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| images | |
 D 620 FS Forbin  D 621 FS Chevalier Paul ARMAMENT & DETAILS    2 x Oto-Melara 76/62 guns and SYLVER A-50 Vertical Launching System (VLS) for MBDA Aster-15 and/or Aster-30 SAM missiles  48-cell SYLVER A-50 Vertical Launching System (VLS) for MBDA Aster-15 and/or Aster-30 SAM missiles  48-cell SYLVER A-50 Vertical Launching System (VLS) for MBDA Aster-15 and/or Aster-30 SAM missiles  an MM40 Exocet SSM missile was fired  Oto-Melara 76/62 gun fire exercise |
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