It is rare to witness a scene where a military ship is struck under its hull and literally cut in two by a missile. This impressive spectacle, unveiled this Tuesday, December 17 by the French Navy, was made possible thanks to a nuclear attack submarine (SNA), which fired an F21 torpedo at “ the hull of the old ship Chief Petty Officer L’Herpreviously decontaminated », According to the official announcement.
In a video published by the Navy, we can see the exercise carried out in real conditions off the Bay of Biscay. This firing marked the very first operational test of the new F21 heavy torpedo. Designed to equip Rubis and Suffren class SNAs as well as nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), this torpedo offers significantly improved performance: “ a level of discretion, an action radius, a strike speed and a detection capacity significantly greater than previous weapons. » The Navy specifies that this test, carried out with a combat munition and not a test munition, demonstrates an ability to effectively neutralize surface targets or submarines.
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This exercise takes place in a tense geopolitical context, at a time when military leaders continue to emphasize their desire to prepare their soldiers for war. high intensity ». In this sense, the Ministry of the Armed Forces justified this experiment in a press release: “ Given the tightening of the international context and the putting into service of the latest generation of complex munitions, it now appears relevant and possible to resort again, on an ad hoc basis, to such weapons experiments at sea. »
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Questioned by the JDD, an expert believes that it is “timely” to demonstrate that the French Navy is capable of destroying a military ship from the ocean depths. “The culture of submarines is discretion. But sometimes it’s important to communicate your typing abilities”.
The hull of the old ship Chief Petty Officer L’Her now rests several thousand meters deep. The French Navy concludes by specifying that this operation “ does not represent any danger either for the environment or for maritime activities. »
