French Frigate Lorraine was conducting a long duration shakedown cruise prior to her commissioning when she evacuated 400 people out of Sudan.
Lorraine is the eighth and final Aquitaine-class frigate for the French Navy (Marine Nationale). She was delivered to the French Navy in November 2022. She departed her homeport of Toulon (Southern France) on April 8 to conduct her “long duration deployment”. All future major vessels of the French Navy go through this long duration shakedown cruise before their formal commissioning. It allows the crew to become operationally proficient with their new vessel and to check all major systems aboard. At the end of this long duration deployment, the head of the French Navy declares the ship as “ready for active duty” (admission au service actif in French) which corresponds to the formal commissioning of the vessel in the French fleet.
Lorraine trained with the Egyptian Navy in mid-April before transiting through the Suez Canal on April 19. That’s when the situation in Sudan worsened: Two opposing forces started fighting for power and causing deadly shooting and shelling in capital city Khartoum. A couple days later, France started “Operation SAGITTAIRE” to evacuate stranded French (and allied) nationals from the war thorn African country. Lorraine was ordered to take part in the operation.
Social media posts showed the French frigate loading evacuees at Port Sudan on the Red Sea on April 24. The photos show a French Army Puma helicopter on the deck. This is highly unusual as FREMM frigates typically deploy with an NH90 NFH helicopter (known as “Caïman” in French Navy service).
400 personnel evacuated from Sudan
Naval News reached out to the Joint Chief of Staffs of the French military (Cabinet du Chef d’état-major des armées – EMA) to learn more about Lorraine‘s role in Operation SAGITTAIRE:
“As part of her long-term deployment (DLD), the Multi-Mission Frigate with Reinforced Air Defense Capabilities (FREMM-DA) Lorraine was in the Red Sea, in support of Operation EU NAVFOR ATALANTA, at the start of Operation SAGITTAIRE in Sudan.
Following a request from the UN to France, Lorraine, after passing through Djibouti on the morning of April 23, sailed to Port-Sudan where she docked on April 25.
400 nationals of around sixty different nationalities, including more than 100 children, belonging to a United Nations land convoy board the Frigate.
The FREMM sailed on the evening of April 25 to transit to Jeddah, in agreement with the Saudi authorities, which she reached on the morning of April 26.“
Asked about the fact that the ship is not yet-commissioned and about the potential presence of private contractors aboard, the EMA explained that the last minute (with no prior notice) change in Lorraine‘s pre-set mission did not represent a difficulty either for the frigate or for her crew: “The crew holds its operational qualification and is therefore able to conduct operations in all theaters . No civilian personnel were on board the frigate.”
We also asked about the unusual presence of a French Army Puma helicopter during the evacuation operation. The French military explained: “Lorraine sailed from Toulon without a Caïman Marine [Ed. Note: NH90] or helicopter detachment on board. Verification of the ship’s military capabilities, which remains the main purpose of this deployment, does not require having an onboard helicopter. As part of the operation SAGITTAIRE, the FREMM-DA took a Puma helicopter on board. This helicopter made it possible to have a capacity of rapid reaction if necessary.”
Lorraine (like her sister ship Alsace) is an Air Defense variant of the FREMM known as FREMM DA. As such, she features a more powerful radar compared to the 6 first frigates of the Aquitaine-class. The two frigate can act as Carrier Air Traffic Control Center when operating with a carrier strike group, meaning they can act as air traffic control for the carrier borne aircraft. They have additional consoles in the CIC for this role. While Lorraine could have coordinated the airlift operation in and out of Sudan from the Red Sea, EMA confirmed she didn’t perform this role during the operation.
EMA concluded by explaining: “The DLD conducted by Lorraine is the last step before the “admission au service actif” (ASA in French), which corresponds to the “commissioning” step in English. This deployment is specifically aimed at confirming the performance of the frigate’s combat system, sensors and command capabilities in demanding operational environments, from the Mediterranean to the Pacific”.
Contacted by Naval News, ALINDIEN confirmed that during the operation, Lorraine was under the command of Rear Admiral Slaars, French Joint Forces Commander in the Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN) and Commander of the French Forces stationed in the UAE (FFEAU).
In addition to Lorraine‘s crew, Operation SAGITTAIRE saw the deployment of some 150 French military personnel in Sudan. From April 22 to 26, the air bridge set up between Khartoum and Djibouti by the French armed forces, followed by the evacuation carried out by Lorraine on behalf of the UN, made it possible to evacuate and bring to safety more than 900 people, including nearly 700 foreigners of 80 different nationalities.
Not a first
As rare as it may be, this evacuation operation by a brand new and not-yet-commissioned French vessel was not a first. Back in July 2006, France started Operation BALISTE as a consequence of the 2006 Lebanon War. The first in-class-ship Mistral LHD was then brand new and not commissioned yet. Yet it was sent to assist with the evacuation operations.
Commissioning of Lorraine
According to the French Navy, the Frigate is conducting a “Pacific deployment”. She set sails shortly after the Italian Navy’s PPA which started a similar “Asia Pacific” deployment. This means two European vessels will sail in the Pacific in the coming weeks. Naval News understands Lorraine is expected to call in Singapore and may even go all the way to Australia, according to local media ADM. The frigate is set to be back in Toulon in August. A French Navy PAO confirmed to Naval News that no vessel has ever reached “active duty” outside of their homeport in Toulon or Brest. However an exception may be made with Lorraine: The frigate may be formally commissioned in July, while outside of metropolitan France. This would mark a first*.
*A Naval News reader informed us that there is actual a precedent: Horizon type air defense destroyer Chevalier Paul was commissioned while underway at sea.