Contenu
“Modernisation is a necessity for navies worldwide”, states Laurent Michel, Services Bids Director. This is an opportunity to deal with obsolescence, increase or adapt the capabilities of a ship to fulfil new missions or to face new threats. “On the occasion of Euronaval, Naval Group will seize the opportunity to promote its modernisation offer regardless of whether the ships have been built by the group or not. The company’s expertise as systems integrator, not to mention its long-standing experience in through-life support on French Navy ships are valuable assets.
Capable of deploying its technical teams internationally, Naval Group is in a position to offer its customers the possibility of manufacturing locally, either in collaboration with a shipyard or local partners, a point of importance for both prospective and existing customers. Various scenarios could be envisaged”. The time factor also contributes to winning customers over. As Laurent Michel explains, “The acquisition of new ships is a long process. Modernising existing units keeps them in operational condition until new ships are ready and until crew members adapt to new technologies without falling behind”.
Modernisation is generally performed during a major technical stop every 10 or 15 years. The Services Department highly recommends making incremental upgrades, presenting the advantage of scaling capabilities continuously and in line with evolving threats, a very minimal or no impact on the availability of ships by undertaking related works during scheduled technical stops and with the further advantage of allowing the customer to spread out expenditure over time.
This is the practice in place with the French Navy, within the scope of through-life support for FREMMs.What about ships that have not been built by the group? “Each ship has a corresponding file with drawings and profiles that serve as the point of entry for each request submitted”, explains Laurent Michel. “Based on these documents and the need expressed by the customer, the Architects from the Technical Department define a technical solution and perform an integration study in line with the needs expressed. Replacing the core of the combat system is anything but run-of-the-mill but Naval Group has an excellent command of the subject. The entire palette of skills required can be found in-house and all such contracts are managed by the Services Department. Attentively listening to what the customer has to say and understanding their needs is what counts first and foremost”.
