Minister Lecornu made the announcement this afternoon during a scheduled hearing to the French Senate.
Here is what the French minister of the armed forces said (translation by Naval News):
“I am giving an update to the high assembly on the attack that FREMM Languedoc suffered this weekend. I previously discussed at length, you may recall, during the military planning law discussions, the challenges posed by the guarantees of freedom of access to all of our maritime zones. Obviously in our overseas territories but above all, I had unfortunately placed a lot of emphasis on the situation in the Near and Middle East and I was far from suspecting at the time that the tragic attack of last October 7 would occur with the outcome that you know. Since obviously this zone is a particularly hardened zone with all the challenges that Iran poses but also, obviously, Iran’s different proxies.
“And this is how this weekend, two drones coming from Yemen deliberately targeted, according to us, our multi-mission frigate Languedoc which was carrying out a patrol in the Red Sea under the authority of the Admiral for the Indian Ocean based in Abu Dhabi, on a maritime security mission: In this area, overall, you have practically 20,000 ships transiting per year, including obviously many French ships, often our frigates are required to carry out missions in particular, among others, alongside the company CMA CGM. And so these were Aster 15 missiles which were launched, in self-defense to destroy the two drones. This was done [successfully] and therefore protected the boat and the crew alike.
“And so if you agree, ladies and gentlemen, senators, I would like to send a message of sympathy, encouragement and support to the French Navy since it has succeeded in this mission within the framework of the operational contracts entrusted to it under the authority of the President of the Republic and of course with the means that you were kind enough to allocate to the Marine Nationale to do this and I think that here we are in a concrete case of the different threats which can weigh on the French nation or its allies or its interests, and we will have the opportunity to discuss it further to it within the framework of an ad hoc hearing.”
This marks the first combat engagement of the Aster 15 missile by MBDA and the first actual air defense engagement of a FREMM frigate.
The Aster family of missiles was originally designed by MBDA for the Marine Nationale, Royal Navy and Italian Navy to counter supersonic anti-ship missiles. More than 100 Aster missiles have been fired to date. France and Italy announced in January 2023 the procurement of close to 700 surface to air missiles of the Aster family.
Aboard the Aquitaine-class ASW FREMM frigates, the Aster 15 missiles are used for self defense. The missile which is launched from vertical launched systems (VLS) has a range of approximately 30 kilometers and a speed of MACH 3, or 3700 km/h. It can destroy fighters and supersonic anti-ship missiles, even sea skimming ones.
