French Barracuda-class submarine

Barracuda class

Profile of the Barracuda type, with her pump-jet propeller and X-shaped stern planes.
Class overview
Name:	Barracuda class
Builders:	DCNS
Operators:	French Navy
Preceded by:	Rubis class
Cost:	€9.9bn(FY2013) for six boats €1,300m(FY2013) per unit
Built:	Since 2007
In commission:	2018, planned (originally 2017)
Building:	3
Planned:	6
Completed:	0
General characteristics
Type:	Nuclear attack submarine
Displacement:	4,765 t surfaced 5,300 t submerged
Length:	99.4 m (326 ft)
Beam:	8.8 m (29 ft)
Draught:	7.3 m (24 ft)
Propulsion:	2 turboreductors groups: 10 MW (13,000 hp) propulsion alternator feeding electric engines Nuclear reactor K15, 50 MW (67,000 hp) 2 emergency electric engines 1 pump jet
Speed:	Over 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph) 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph), surfaced
Range:	Unlimited range, 10 years (nuclear)
Endurance:	70 days of food
Complement:	12 officers 48 petty officers
Sensors and processing systems:	SYCOBS SEACLEAR Velox-M8
Armament:	4 × 533 mm (21.0 in) tubes 20 storage racks, including MDCN SCALP Naval missiles Exocet SM39 Block2 missiles F21 Artemis heavy torpedoes FG29 Mines

Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A

Class overview
Name:	Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A
Builders:	DCNS
Operators:	Royal Australian Navy
Preceded by:	Collins class
In commission:	Approx. 2030–2070 (planned)
Building:	0
Planned:	12
Completed:	0
General characteristics
Type:	Diesel-electric attack submarine
Displacement:	over 4,000 t submerged
Length:	97 m (318 ft)
Propulsion:	7 MW (9,400 hp) permanent magnet motor 4 diesel alternators

The Barracuda class (or Suffren class) is a new nuclear attack submarine, designed by the French shipbuilder DCNS for the French Navy, replacing the Rubis-class submarines. Construction began in 2007 and the first unit will be commissioned in 2018.

Barracudas will use technology from the Triomphant class, including pump jet propulsion. This class reportedly produces approximately 1/1000 of the detectable noise of the Redoutable-class boats (submarines), and they are ten times more sensitive in detecting other submarines. They will be fitted with torpedo-tube-launched cruise missiles MDCN SCALP Naval for long-range (well above 1,000 km, 620 mi) strikes against strategic land targets. Their missions will include anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, land attack, intelligence gathering, crisis management and special operations. The Barracuda type will use X-shaped stern planes.

In October 1998, the Delegation Générale pour l'Armement, the French government's defense procurement agency, established an integrated project team consisting of the Naval Staff, DCN, Technicatome and the Commissariat a l'Énergie Atomique, a regulatory body that oversees nuclear power plants, to oversee the design of a new attack submarine class. DCN was to be the boat's designer and builder while Technicatome, since absorbed Areva company, was to be responsible for the nuclear power plant. The two companies were to act jointly as a single prime contractor to share the industrial risks, manage the schedules, and be responsible for the design's performance and costs, which at the time was estimated to be US$4.9 billion.