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Home» News»France’s New Submarine Suffren Escorts CSG for the First Time
Suffren SSN Charles de Gaulle carrier
Suffren SSN sailing as part of the Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group during exercise POLARIS in 2021. French Navy picture.

France’s New Submarine Suffren Escorts CSG for the First Time

The French Navy (Marine Nationale)'s new nuclear-powered attack submarine "Suffren" is escorting the French carrier strike group (CSG) for the first time.

Xavier Vavasseur 21 Dec 2022

The information was disclosed during a speech by President Emanuel Macron. The French head of state was aboard aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle on Monday to celebrate Christmas with the sailors.

“This Antares mission is important for many reasons: The missions accomplished, the patrol zones, the flights have reinforced the defensive and dissuasive postures of NATO in Eastern Europe, near Ukraine at war […] and the very composition of the carrier strike group with Forbin, Alsace, Provence, Marne, Suffren, the MPA detachment based in Souda, but also American destroyers Arleigh Burke, and before it the Roosevelt, the Italian frigate Virginio Fasan and some time ago the Greek frigate Adrias, yes the multi-national composition of the CSG has made it possible to show that we are resolute, reliable allies, demonstrating a high level of integration and interoperability.”

Emmanuel Macron

The French Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group (CSG) set sails from Toulon naval base on 15 November 2022 to begin mission Antares: An operational deployment in the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.

The French Joint Forces Command in Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN) announced yesterday that the CSG transited the Suez canal and entered their area of responsibility (i.e. the Red Sea and eventually the Indian Ocean).

#Antares | Le @French_CSG a franchi Suez. Après un début de mission en Méditerranée, le déploiement continue là où la situation l’exige. Objectifs: participer à l’appréciation autonome de situation 🇫🇷, renforcer les liens avec les partenaires et garantir la liberté de navigation. pic.twitter.com/owul5I3ZjT

— FFEAU.ALINDIEN (@FFEAU_ALINDIEN) December 20, 2022

Contacted by Naval News, the French Navy confirmed that mission Antares marks the first time that the first-in-class SSN Suffren is integrated to the Charles de Gaulle CSG in an operational context. The French Navy however declined to comment on whether Suffren followed the CSG through Suez (Naval News understand this would also mark a first). The Marine Nationale didn’t confirm or deny on whether mission Antares marks the first ever operational mission for Suffren.

For the record, Suffren entered “active duty” (admission au service actif in French) on 3 June 2022. The second submarine in the class, Duguay-Trouin, is set to start sea trials in the coming weeks.

Suffren was spotted in Faslane, Scotland, back in September:

New 🇫🇷French SSN FS Suffren (lead boat of the Barracuda-class) arrives for her first visit to Falsane this morning.

Via @MichaelJWC626 pic.twitter.com/bA8dAzaNAq

— Navy Lookout (@NavyLookout) September 22, 2022

Submarine Suffren previously took part in the large scale exercise Polaris in December 2021. The header picture of this article was taken during Polaris.

To learn more about Suffren, check out our in-depth coverage and rare access aboard the submarine:

World’s Newest Class of Nuclear Attack Submarine: Rare Access Inside Suffren
French Navy Submarine Suffren 2022-12-21
Tags French Navy Submarine Suffren
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Authors

Posted by : Xavier Vavasseur
Xavier is based in Paris, France. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Xavier has been covering naval defense topics for nearly a decade.

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