French Navy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The French Navy (Marine Nationale) is the naval arm of the French military and is the second-largest Western European navy (the largest being the United Kingdom's Royal Navy). It operates a full range of vessels, from patrol boats to guided missile frigates, one nuclear aircraft carrier and four strategic missile submarines (SNLEs).
The current Navy aircraft carrier is named Charles De Gaulle (Normally, the French Navy operates two carriers, but only one of the latest generation has been built yet).
The Navy is organised in five branches:
- The "Force d'Action Navale" ("Naval Action Force"), surface fleet
- The "Forces Sous-marines" ("Submarine forces"), stategic nuclear deterrent fleet
- The "Aviation Navale" ("Naval air force"), ground and sea-based planes and helicopters
- The "Fusiliers de Marine" ("Naval fusiliers", ground forces, used to secure naval installations) and "Commandos de Marine" (amphibious assault and other special operations), collectively known as FORFUSCO.
- The "Gendarmerie Navale", police operations and coast guard
Note that the Troupes de Marine ("Naval Troops"), organised in Régiments d'Infanterie de Marine (the famous elite RIMa) are the modern name of the Troupes Coloniales ("Colonial Troops"), and are not part of the Navy, but of the Army.
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History
[Yet to be written]
The French navy is affectionately known as La Royale (the "Royal"), for its supposed attachement to the monarchy; it is to be noted that some of the greatest heroes of the First Republic were in the French Navy (Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca, Robert Surcouf, Latouche-Tréville).
The motto of the French navy is "Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline" ("Honour, Homeland, Valour, Discipline").
Present developments
The French Navy is undertaking a significant reinforcement, both in modernising and in number, under the Projet de loi de programmation militaire 2003-2008 ("Military programme law project 2003-2008")[1] , which notably calls for
- A second aircraft carrier - conventionally propelled (the current Charles De Gaulle is nuclear), and built to a similar design as the British CVF ships.
- 4 Horizon units; two are now under construction, the third one should be ordered in 2007
- 17 FREMM multipurpose frigates - 8 should be ordered between 2003 and 2008, the first commissioning being expected for 2008
- 6 nuclear attack submarines of the Barracuda class - 2 should be ordered between 2003 and 2008, the first commissioning being expected for 2012
The equipment will also be modernised, notably
- New models of the successful Exocet missile
- MBDA Aster and Sylver systems for anti-missile/anti-air defence
- Cruise missiles (the naval or submarine SCALP EG)
See also
- List of Naval Ministers of France
- French naval ships
- List of French dreadnought battleships
- French Navy admirals
- French Navy officers
- French 100 mm naval gun
- Exocet
External links
- Official site
- Alabordache French Navy
