Originally Posted by
Frostchamber
France deprioritising SSNs strikes me as a mistake. They remain the ace in the pack when it comes to naval forces.
I experienced a bit of déjà vu as the previous
Rubis class was reduced from eight to six units so the
Suffren class is a straight six for six swap - as mentioned in the post quoted the programme for replacement of
Barracuda (aka
the Suffren class) is already in its early stages to ensure continuity. La Royale finally got SSNs 20 years after the Andrew with the original class cancelled in the late 1960s before any boats were built. They got out of the SSK business some years after the RN.
The French have switched focus to getting their armed forces supplied with materiel than can be acquired to fight any Russian aggression within the next 3/4 years. They plan no increase in forces, the active duty numbers are 87% higher than the UK from an almost identical population size, reserves are c.30% more as well. In almost all equipment areas, across land, sea and air, they have significantly more than the UK (exceptions being SS(G)Ns (6 vs 7), towed artillery and mobile rocket lauchers). The fact that they have almost the same number of SS(G)Ns as the UK should be more a worry for us than them, given our geography and strategic interests - between 1983 and 2004 the RN had at least 12 SSNs in commission peaking at 18 in 1991. The struggle to keep even one Astute active terrifies me.