- Yes
- No
Hello everyone, and welcome to this new proposal.
Today, I’m introducing you to a new class of French frigate, the F70-class frigate, and more specifically the Latouche-Tréville (D646).
The Latouche-Tréville (D646) is a Type F70 ASM anti-submarine frigate, the last unit built in this series derived from the Georges Leygues frigates. Laid down at the Lorient shipyards in 1984, it was launched on March 19, 1988, and entered active service in 1990. It is named after Louis-René-Madeleine Levassor de Latouche-Tréville, an 18th-century naval officer who fought alongside the Americans during the French Revolution. Like its sister ships, it specializes in anti-submarine warfare, with a high-performance hull sonar, a towed sonar, MU90 torpedoes, and the ability to embark a Lynx helicopter (then Caïman Marine at the end of its career). Although it belongs to the F70 ASM series, it is the only one to have been built after the 1980s, making it a slightly modernized version of the type.
During its more than 30 years of service, the Latouche-Tréville has been a pillar of French anti-submarine warfare, operating alongside naval air forces, protecting SSBNs, and escorting the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle on numerous occasions. It has been deployed in a variety of missions: NATO exercises, presence missions, and external operations such as in the Gulf of Aden or the Eastern Mediterranean. Appreciated for its robustness and the reliability of its ASW systems, it has also been used in sea rescue operations, maritime surveillance, and international cooperation. It will be decommissioned on July 1, 2022, marking the end of the generation of F70 ASW frigates, gradually replaced by the FREMM (multi-mission frigates). The Latouche-Tréville symbolizes the last phase of conventional anti-submarine warfare, before the era of more integrated and modular platforms.
Characteristics
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Length : 139 m
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Width : 15 m
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Draft : 5.5 m
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Mass : 4,500 tons
The Latouche-Tréville is powered by a 26,000 hp Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbine engine, complemented by two 5,000 hp SEMT Pielstick 16PA6 diesel engines. This allows it to reach a speed of 30 knots with the gas engines and 15 knots with the diesel engines. Its range is 8,000 nautical miles at a speed of 15 knots.
The crew consists of 240 sailors.
Equipment
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Radar :
- DRBV 15A global surveillance radar
- DRBV 26A air search radar
- DRBC 33A fire control radar
- DRBN 34 navigation radar
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IRST :
- DIBV 2A IRST
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Sonar :
- DUBV 24C hull sonar
- DUBV 43B/C depth sonar
- DSBV 61 towed sonar
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Decoys and threat detection :
- ARBB 36 jammer
- ARBR 16 radar interceptor (RWR)
- SQL 25 NIXIZ torpedo decoy
- 2 x DAGAIE decoy lancher
- 4 x Irvin Aerospace decoy launcher
Weapons
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Guns :
- 1 x 100mm Mle 1968 DCN/GIAT
- 2 x 20mm F2 GIAT
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Torpedos :
- 2 x Torpedo tude (L5 torpedo or Mu90)
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Missiles :
- 4 or 8 x MM40 Exocet missiles
- 1 x Crotale EDIR (8 missiles)
- 2 x SIMBAD CIWS (2 x 2 Mistral missiles)
In addition to these weapons, the Latouche-Tréville can carry a combat helicopter in its hangar and deploy it via the helipad at the stern. The model used is the Linx Mk4 until its decommissioning, then the NH90 until the ship’s decommissioning.
In game this ship would be the most powerfully armed French ship in terms of anti-submarine and anti-ship combat before the arrival of new generation ships with discreet coatings. This ship would therefore be a very interesting addition to the French tree, bringing a powerfully armed combat ship when adding similar ships in the game
Video
Les frégates anti-sous-marine : 42 ans d’opérations
Fregate Française Latouche Treville en pleine tempête de Force 11
La Marine nationale fait ses adieux à la frégate anti-sous-marine Latouche-Tréville
RAS Latouche-Tréville & Wielingen (Persian Gulf 1991)
Sources
- Latouche-Tréville - L’art du commandement | Ministère des Armées
- Dernière cérémonie des couleurs pour le Latouche-Tréville | Ministère des Armées
- Georges Leygues class Frigate F70ASW French Navy Marine
- FS Latouche Treville D-646 Frigate F70AS French Navy Marine
- Fin du Latouche-Tréville : la Marine nationale tourne la page des frégates du type F70 | Mer et Marine