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DCNS begins sea trials with Mohammed VI FREMM multimission frigate for Royal Moroccan Navy

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Naval Industry News - France
 
 
 
DCNS begins sea trials with Mohammed VI FREMM multimission frigate for Royal Moroccan Navy
 
The FREMM frigate built for the Royal Moroccan Navy put to sea for the first time on 17 April. This key milestone marks the launch of sea trials, which will be conducted over the next few weeks off the Brittany coast. The ship will be delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy at the end of this year, in accordance with the contract schedule.

During this first period at sea, the crew made up of French Navy personnel, customer representatives and DCNS employees will focus primarily on the performance of the ship's propulsion system and navigation system. The exceptional seakeeping qualities of the FREMM frigates have already been demonstrated by the first-of-class Aquitaine, delivered to the French Navy in November 2012.
     
The FREMM frigate built for the Royal Moroccan Navy put to sea for the first time on 17 April. This key milestone marks the launch of sea trials, which will be conducted over the next few weeks off the Brittany coast. The ship will be delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy at the end of this year, in accordance with the contract schedule.
Mohammed VI FREMM
Picutre: DCNS
     
"This milestone is the culmination of a remarkable team effort by DCNS, our partners and suppliers, the trials crew and customer representatives," said Anne Bianchi, director of FREMM frigate programmes at DCNS. "The FREMM frigates are designed and built by DCNS to meet the needs of many navies around the world, as demonstrated by this first export sale to Morocco. They are among the most technologically advanced and competitively priced vessels on the world market, and are inherently versatile to provide a response to all types of threats. They offer a range of innovative features and unparalleled levels of interoperability and operational readiness."

The teams on board will work day and night to conduct a series of tests at a sustained pace. The first three days of the campaign, known as the 'familiarisation' phase, will be used to test the vessel's safety systems and equipment, including fire-fighting, flood control and emergency response systems and evacuation procedures as well as manoeuvrability and mooring performance.

The second phase will focus on the propulsion system. The FREMM's high-performance hybrid CODLOG (COmbined Diesel eLectric Or Gas) power package combines electric motors for low-speed silent-mode propulsion and a gas turbine for high-speed mechanical propulsion, with a maximum speed in excess of 27 knots.
     
The FREMM frigate built for the Royal Moroccan Navy put to sea for the first time on 17 April. This key milestone marks the launch of sea trials, which will be conducted over the next few weeks off the Brittany coast. The ship will be delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy at the end of this year, in accordance with the contract schedule.
Royal Moroccan Navy FREMM
Picutre: DCNS
     
In addition, the DCNS teams will also test the ship's navigation systems (log, position, heading) and its inertial platforms for precise positioning anywhere in the world.

In the next few weeks, over 150 people, including 60 French Navy personnel, will spend time on this second FREMM frigate. To save the ship returning to port, people will be ferried out and back on a daily basis.

On completing these preliminary trials, the frigate will return to DCNS's Lorient shipyard for several days of quayside work. A few weeks later, it will put to sea for a second campaign of trials focusing on the combat system.

Royal Moroccan Navy crew training underway

While these first sea trials are taking place, some of the Royal Moroccan Navy personnel who will crew the new vessel are beginning simulator-based training at DCNS's Lorient facility to familiarise themselves with the vessel and its systems. This training programme will be ramped up over the next few months as further members of the future crew arrive.

FREMM, a major programme for DCNS and its partners

The FREMM programme includes 12 ships, 11 for the French Navy and one for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

In November 2012, DCNS successfully delivered the FREMM frigate Aquitaine, the first-in-class of the new FREMM multimission frigates.

The second vessel of the programme will be delivered to the Royal Moroccan Navy before the end of 2013, in line with contractual agreements, and will be named Mohammed VI.

Four other FREMM multimission frigates are at various stages of completion at DCNS's Lorient shipyard:
- Normandie, the third in the series, will begin sea trials at the end of the year and will be delivered to the French Navy in 2014.
- Provence is now fully built and will be floated out of the building dock in the fourth quarter of 2013.
- The fifth and sixth of the series are under construction.

Click here for FREMM Aquitaine class datasheet

Click here to read our exclusive interview of the program manager and visit of the FREMM shipyard

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Update - Editor Note
As several of our readers already noticed, the two large jammers fitted on FREMM Aquitaine (the first of class for the French Navy) on the port and starboard sides are not present on the Mohammed VI. Contacted by Navy Recognition, a DCNS representative told us the customer didn't order this specific equipment. DCNS could install this optional equipment in a timely manner at a later date should the customer express the need for it.