Second French FREMM air-defence frigate starts sea trials

The second of two Aquitaine-class FREMM multimission frigates enhanced with air-defence capabilities on order for the French Navy has started sea trials off the coast of Brittany.

Lorraine is the eighth and final FREMM frigate being built by Naval Group for the French Navy and the second of two to be built to a modified FREMM DA (défense aérienne) standard.

The first six ships in the programme delivered by Naval Group from 2012 to 2019 were built as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) variants. Alsace, the first FREMM DA to be built, was delivered in April 2021. Lorraine was launched in November 2020 and is expected to be delivered by the end of 2022.

The FREMM DA frigates retain the core ASW sensor fit of the first six vessels, including the UMS 4110 CL hull-mounted sonar and Combined Active Passive Towed Array Sonar (CAPTAS)-4 low-frequency active and passive variable depth sonar.