Fully digital, forged for the future
- Unmatched and resilient data processing capabilities, thanks to 2 redundant data centres: such a level of digitisation played a key role in the feasibility of a compact, first-rank frigate.
- Combat-oriented digital design: easier and faster implementation of new capabilities to respond to the acceleration of the operational and technological tempo in modern warfare.
- Thanks to automation, crew’s work is optimised, freeing up time and minds to focus on the mission.
- Mothership by design: natively fitted to embark and deploy surface and aerial drones (dedicated hangar, Steeris® Drones Mission Systems, datalinks…), the FDI was born ready for network-centric operations and collaborative combat.
The devil’s in the details
To the untrained eye, some design choices might seem trivial – or unseen – but when it comes to a warship, the smallest details can be of strategic relevance.
The greatest care was given to ensure the best possible acoustic discretion, a key requirement for a ship intended for anti-submarine warfare.
Built to full military standards, the FDI has been designed so all equipment that generates vibrations (hydraulic systems, engines and generators…) are mounted on silent blocks.
The absence of ceiling and the unpainted wiring are not cost-cutting measures, but the implementation of the French Navy’s operational feedback.
Such details reduce the risk of injury to the crew, and allows for easy and quick identification – and repair if needed – of faulty cabling and piping. Especially useful for a frontline warship.
Zooming in on the PSIM
The Panoramic Sensors and Intelligence Module (PSIM) houses in one single block most of the FDI’s sensors, as well as the combat information centre, one of the two onboard data centres and the counter-drone warfare centre:
- No interference between sensors.
- Continuous and accurate 360° coverage in all domains (radar, optronic, electronic warfare…).
- No blind spot from very short to long range.
- Enhanced capabilities and survivability.
Zooming out from the PSIM
The FDI’s PSIM embodies our answers to several key operational lessons, and demonstrates Naval Group’s extensive experience as a naval architect and integrator.
The PSIM integrates 70% of the combat system (combat management system and sensors, electronic warfare systems…).
This centralisation played a key role in the FDI’s architecture and production process, allowing both compactness and fast shipbuilding.
Construction of the PSIM and the platform take place in parallel, enabling to perform stress tests and bug verifications on land, before the PSIMS’s integration onboard.
A programme which delivers at the right time
The FDI programme was designed with one clear industrial objective: doubling our output of first-rank frigates at our Lorient shipyard. And we succeeded! Thanks to new technologies (Dassault Systèmes 3DX, paperless philosophy, augmented reality, digital twin…) and innovative industrial processes (Takt Time implementation allowed by the FDI’s compactness, parallel construction and testing of platform and combat system…). With the delivery of the first two FDIs, the programme is now fully mature and risk-free: the FDI is ready for the challenging times ahead of us.
No capability without availability
The French Navy’s FREMMs can claim an availability rate of up to 80% - such a level of excellence owes nothing to chance.
This is the result of both a rigorous and streamlined maintenance plan and frigates natively designed to optimise Maintenance, Repairs and Operations (MRO).
The FDI was designed based on the lessons learned from France’s FREMM programme, with particular attention paid to anticipating maintenance operations in the very design of the ship:
- dedicated bolted panels and routes allowing major equipment to be removed for repair without cutting the hull nor drydocking;
- predictive maintenance tools;
- easy to maintain CODAD propulsion and diesel generators based on off-the-shelf diesel engines.
