The French Navy (Marine Nationale) conducted a shock test involving a Lafayette-class frigate, the first such test in several decades. The move illustrates the navy’s commitment to increase its readiness for high intensity combat.
French Navy press release
After torpedoing the hull of the former OPV ‘Premier Maître L’Her’ in December, the French Navy has once again carried out an experiment at sea: a shock test – the first since 1995.
On January 25, off the coast of Toulon, the crew of the La Fayette-class frigate Courbet was shaken. The ship was at the heart of an experiment designed to test its resistance in the event of an explosion: a shock test.
Carried out at sea, this shock test is designed to test a warship’s resistance in the event of an explosion. This is one of the key challenges of the POLARIS initiative, which began in 2021, as it is during these experiments, under conditions as close as possible to real combat conditions, that the preparation for high-intensity combat takes on its full meaning.
The intensified preparation of crews for combat is explained by the tougher geopolitical context, and the uncertainty it engenders. Against this backdrop, in December 2024, the French Navy fired an F21 heavy torpedo from a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) at the hull of the former OPV ‘Premier-Maître L’Her’. In December, the weapon was the subject of the experiment. This time, it was the armor that was tested.
The last time the Navy carried out such a test was in 1995. A 250-kilogram TNT charge was detonated at a depth of 40 meters and 30 meters from the frigate La Fayette, again to check the hull’s strength.
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