This exercise will take place from October 7 to 13, with a first phase at the dock, the Franco-Moroccan flotilla, at least the surface units, having to meet in Casablanca, before moving in a second phase to the Sea of Alboran, along the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. “This edition, which includes for the first time an anti-submarine warfare component, illustrates the rise in operational cooperation activities desired by Morocco and France, the two navies having ASW capabilities. This cooperation activity also aims to consolidate the interoperability of the participating units in the areas of maritime security and safety. The final objective is to confirm the ability of the two parties to operate jointly and to respond, if necessary, to a crisis situation at sea”, we explain to Mer et Marine at the command of the French Navy in the Mediterranean. .
The Aconit, one of three French FLFs recently renovated, notably with the addition of a KingKlip Mk2 hull sonar.
As usual now, the French military does not communicate on the identity of the units which will be engaged, contenting themselves with announcing, in addition to an SNA, a frigate of the La Fayette type (FLF). However, we can venture a guess. For an anti-submarine warfare exercise, you need a frigate equipped with sonar, therefore one of the three renovated French FLFs. And given the current activity of these buildings, it is probably the Aconite which will be there. As for the SNA, we can easily imagine that it is not one of the new units of the Suffren class, the French fleet not going to risk letting a non-NATO navy study the acoustic signature of one of its new flagships. It will therefore be an old generation Rubis type submarine. And precisely, the Émeraude, which must definitively leave Toulon at the beginning of next week for a final mission before reaching Cherbourg where it will be decommissioned, will operate in the area. Logically, it is therefore this SNA which should participate in Chebec.
In any case, even if it is faced with an old SNA put into service in 1988, the Moroccan navy will still train with a perfectly operational unit, which has been continually modernized during its life cycle and remains formidable, knowing that the last two submarines in this series, the Amethyst (1992) and the Perle (1993), will remain operational for several more years (their replacement will be ensured by 2030 by the last of the six new Suffren). Above all, this will provide the Moroccans with a rare opportunity to practice hunting a nuclear-powered submarine. This is also one of the problems of the Moroccan naval forces, which do not at this stage have a submarine, unlike its Algerian rival, which has significantly strengthened its capabilities in this area by purchasing four new Kilos, commissioned between 2009 and 2018 (they were added to two units of this type dating from the end of the 1980s and which Algeria had modernized).
One Algerian Kilo.
In response, Morocco equipped itself with anti-submarine capabilities with, firstly, the acquisition from the Dutch group Damen of three corvettes from the SIGMA family, delivered in 2011 and 2012 and equipped with a sonar of KingKlip shell. Before, above all, buying from France a real submarine hunter, in this case a multi-mission frigate (FREMM). Commissioned in 2014, the Mohammed VI is, like the French vessels of this class, equipped with a UMS 4110 hull sonar and a Captas-4 variable immersion towed system. A remarkable material recognized throughout the world.
The Moroccan FREMM Mohammed VI was delivered in 2014 by Naval Group.
But for it to be effective, it must be operated by experienced sailors, which requires training and exercises. In this, France will therefore make a nice gesture of cooperation towards Morocco by hiring one of its SNAs in Chebec, thus allowing Moroccan crews to gain valuable feedback. At least one Moroccan unit will participate in these maneuvers.
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