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France has definitively confirmed that it will not build additional Barracuda-class nuclear attack submarines and will stop at exactly six units of the Suffren class.
Three submarines (Suffren, Duguay-Trouin, and Tourville) are already in active service, the De Grasse is in testing, while the last two (Rubis and Casabianca) are under construction in Cherbourg for delivery by 2029-2030.
This decision, enacted in the new Military Programming Law, prioritizes investments in drones and the replenishment of ammunition stocks over expanding a series of highly expensive submarines.
The French Navy will thus maintain a flotilla of six modern SSNs, while continuing construction of the new deterrence submarines (SNLE 3G) at the Cherbourg site.
In the longer term, a successor program to the Barracuda is already in preparation to ensure the continuity of French submarine capabilities beyond the 2060s.