Exocet SM39 and MdCN firings from French submarine Suffren

On 20 October, the Suffren, the first-in-series of the six nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) in the Barracuda program, successfully completed the test firing of an MdCN (Missile de Croisière Naval) naval cruise missile from the sea near the DGA missile test centre at Biscarrosse. The firing completes the qualification phase of the integration of all Suffren’s weapon systems, carried out as part of its sea trials, conducted by the DGA (France’s Defence Procurement Agency) since last April. This test firing of the MdCN naval cruise missile – following careful preparations by teams from the DGA, the French Navy and the manufacturers MBDA and NAVAL GROUP – is the last milestone in a series of tests designed to verify the correct functioning of the Suffren’s armaments and of its combat system in general. With a range of several hundred kilometres, the MdCN is tailored for missions against infrastructures of high strategic value. After the Multi-Mission Frigates (FREMM), the Suffren-class SSNs are the first French vessels to be equipped with this conventional deep strike capability. The ability to deploy the MdCN from submarines maintains the constant and undetected threat of a strike from the sea against enemy targets located far inland, and very significantly increases the penetration capacity of French weapons in military theatres of operation. During its trials in the Mediterranean, the Suffren also successfully completed a test firing of an Exocet SM39 underwater-launched anti-ship missile from the sea near the DGA missile test centre on Île du Levant, as well as several test firings of the F21 heavy torpedo, a next-generation weapon that will ultimately be carried on all French Navy submarines. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]