Sous-marins d’attaque du futur, Pt.1: Finding out what’s inside a French nuclear-powered submarine

I believe most people working with defence news have a more or less well-formulated bucket-list of things that would be cool to get to see up close. I certainly have one, and that is one which never really included nuclear-powered submarines. Not that I didn’t thinking seeing one up close wouldn’t be cool, but they are rare and usually among the most closely guarded platforms of any state lucky (and rich) enough to operate one. With just some 60 western SSNs in total – of which the US Navy is responsible for all but eleven – it just didn’t feel realistic to be allowed aboard one. So I instead spent my time hoping to get invited to visit a carrier at some point. Luckily, the French apparently felt differently about the matter, and in October I got to join the EURONAVAL press trip which included a tour of the newest class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in service anywhere in the world, and it was an extremely interesting insight into the capabilities and operations of a modern…

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