A report published by the French Parliament’s Committee on National Defense and Armed Forces refers to the French Navy’s conclusions from the high-intensity exercise “Polaris”, which took place between November 18 and December 3, 2021.
The exercise was attended by all three Branches of the French Armed Forces with about 6,000 personnel, almost half the fleet and allied air forces. The object of the exercise was the evaluation of a French Aircraft Fighter Team, focusing on “Charles de Gaulle”, in the context of realistic scenarios, against an enemy force, focusing on an amphibious “Mistral” class ship and weapons that the arsenal does not have in its arsenal. France.
During the exercise some of the scenarios had to do with the interference of communications (satellite and non-satellite). According to the report from the first minutes of the battle, two French frigates had sunk, two more had been put out of action and 200-400 sailors were dead or missing. By the end of the exercise the casualties had risen to eight ships, sunken or out of battle.
The report highlights the weaknesses of the French Navy and the need to strengthen both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to be able to cope with high-intensity conflicts. According to the report, in 2030 the French Navy will have only 15 frigates, although today it operates in 4-5 business theaters. In the event of a high-intensity collision, the number of ships is insufficient.
The report proposes that France acquire a roof with 18 “front-line” frigates as soon as possible, although it acknowledges that this goal is possible after 2030, due to the existing industrial infrastructure which is at the limit of its production capacity. The report proposes that frigates be engaged in missions that require combat power and leave routine missions on second-line ships.
The report also refers to the Eurocorvet program, which is an opportunity to implement this policy. As part of the Eurocorvet program, France plans to acquire six ships to replace the “Floréal” class frigates.
The report states that this number may increase. In the submarine category, the report states that the number of six offensive submarines remains small and proposes the construction of more “Barracuda” class submarines.
There is also a weakness in the UAV sector, according to the report, which also criticizes the delay in the MAWS program, ie the development program of a new naval cooperation aircraft to replace the Atlantic-2.
Another major problem highlighted by the report is the inadequate protection of French ships at sea and the inadequacy of Exocet, compared to other, more modern anti-ship missiles. The FC / ASW program of France and Great Britain is expected to rectify the situation, but the new missiles will be available around 2030.
Finally, the report states that the exercise “Polaris” underlined the general shortage of ammunition of all kinds and proposes to cover the stockpile of ammunition.
