French submarine Le Terrible (S619)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Le Terrible.

Le Terrible is a Triomphant-class strategic nuclear submarine of the French Navy. The boat was launched on 21 March 2008 ^[8]

Le Terrible surfaced at Brest
History
France
Name	Le Terrible
Cost	€3.1 billion (2010)[1]
Laid down	24 October 2000
Launched	21 March 2008
Commissioned	20 September 2010 [2]
Homeport	Île Longue
General characteristics
Class and type	Triomphant-class submarine
Displacement	12 640 tonnes (surfaced) 14 335 t (submerged)
Length	138 m (453 ft)
Beam	12.50 m (41.0 ft)
Draught	10.60 m (34.8 ft)
Propulsion	Pressurised water K15 nuclear reactor (150 MW (200,000 hp)), LEU 7%;[3] turboreductor system; Pump-jet 2 SEMT Pielstick diesels-alternators 8PA4V200 SM (700 kW (940 hp)) auxiliaries. 30,500 kW (40,900 hp)
Speed	over 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range	Unlimited distance; 20–25 years
Test depth	Over 400 m (1,300 ft)
Complement	15 officers 96 men
Sensors and processing systems	Sonar DMUX 80 Sonar DUUX 5 Sonar DSUV 61B Very Low Frequency Racal Decca radar (navigation) SCC : SET (Système d'exploitation Tactique) : tactical operational system
Electronic warfare & decoys	ARUR 13
Armament	Nuclear: 16 M45 or M51 missiles with six to ten TN 75 150 kt[4][5] or TNO 100-300 kt thermonuclear warheads[6][7] Anti-submarine : 4 × 533 mm (21 in) tubes for F17 torpedoes Anti-surface : Exocet SM39

On 27 January 2010, Le Terrible launched an M51 SLBM from underwater in Audierne Bay.^[9] The missile reached its target 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) off North Carolina; the 4,500-kilometre (2,800 mi) flight took about 20 minutes.^[10]

The submarine was put into service on 20 September 2010 armed with 16 M51 missiles.^[2] Terrible is fitted with a new SYCOBS combat system (SYstem de COmbat Barracuda-SSBN) which will also be installed on the new Barracuda class SSNs.^[11][12]

In July 2017 French president Emmanuel Macron visited the submarine in the Atlantic and took part in a simulated missile launch.^[13]

See also

• List of submarines of France

Sources and references

1. "French Audit Report Reveals Weapon Prices, A400M Details". defence-aerospace.com. 18 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
2. "Le Terrible entre en service actif". Ministry of Defense (France). 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
3. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/18321557.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
4. "AFP: La marine française met un quatrième sous-marin nucléaire en service". Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
5. "IA M51 : Chape de plomb sur le nucléaire". Mer et Marine. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
6. Kristensen, Hans. "France" (PDF). Assuring Destruction Forever: Nuclear Weapon Modernization Around the World. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
7. Reif, Kingston (8 December 2009). "Nuclear weapons: The modernization myth". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
8. "Sous-marin nucléaire lanceur d'engins Le Terrible". netmarine.net. 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
9. Un missile M-51 a été tiré depuis un sous-marin en plongée ce matin Archived 2014-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, Jean-Dominique Merchet, Libération
10. Le missile M-51 est retombé à 2000 kilomètres des côtes américaines Archived 2014-02-26 at the Wayback Machine, Jean-Dominique Merchet, Libération
11. "Thales Underwater Systems Awarded French SSBN Sonar System Contract". Archived from the original on 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
12. "Noticiarionaval: Un nouveau sous-marin géant sort des chantiers de Cherbourg". 2008.
13. "Emmanuel Macron aboard France's nuclear submarine". BBC News. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.