TechnicAtome: The “Tourville” Nuclear Submarine Begins Sea Trials
On July 12, 2024, the latest addition to the Barracuda nuclear attack submarine program, the “Tourville,” was launched. This critical step marks the beginning of actual sea trials under the responsibility of the French Navy.
On April 24, 2024, teams from TechnicAtome and Naval Group announced the reactor’s initial criticality of the new submarine “Tourville,” the third vessel of the Barracuda program. Less than three months later, on July 12, the nuclear attack submarine (SNA) was launched into the water. Departing from Cherbourg, it will now begin its sea trials. Now under the management of the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), the Tourville’s French Navy crew will conduct sea trials for several months in the English Channel and the Atlantic until its final delivery scheduled for the end of 2024.
#Défense | Première sortie à la mer pour le #Tourville !
👉Vendredi, le sous-marin #nucléaire d'attaque (#SNA) Tourville, 3ème de la série #BARRACUDA a pris le large !
👏C'est une grande fierté pour les équipes #TA qui ont œuvré pour cette réussite !#dissuasion @MarineNationale pic.twitter.com/G1YNvPozAm— TechnicAtome (@Technicatome) July 16, 2024
“The entire set of sea trials will be conducted by the submarine’s crew and according to a schedule set by engineers and technicians from the DGA, the CEA’s Directorate of Military Applications, Naval Group, and TechnicAtome. The objective is to progressively verify all the technical and operational capabilities of the submarine,” the DGA stated in its press release. The Directorate General of Armaments also specified that the vessel remains the property of Naval Group and TechnicAtome during the testing phase and is under the responsibility of the French Navy. The DGA and the CEA are responsible for the trials until the ship is received and ultimately delivered to the French Navy at the end of the year.
The Tourville is the third in the series of six Suffren-class submarines in the Barracuda program. It is equipped with a nuclear reactor, derived from the K15 reactor, designed by TechnicAtome. The delivery of the remaining three SNAs (de Grasse, Rubis, and Casabianca) is expected by 2030.