Egypt buys Normandie, the landed crew of Provence. Explanation
(B2) When Egypt buys, it's fast. And she wants to be delivered by express. To enable the FREMM frigate provided for in the mega-contract signed with Cairo to be delivered as quickly as possible, it was therefore necessary to innovate. And the navy upset all its plans...
Quick to wrap up
This sale operation was materialized in a very short period of time, not compatible with the usual procedures and the start of construction of a new building we confirm at the Ministry of Defence. The only solution to ensure delivery on time therefore consisted of delivering to Egypt... one of the FREMMs initially intended for the French Navy, currently being fitted out in Lorient and owned by DCNS: the frigate Normandy. Which is not without cascading consequences in the navy. Because the ship, with its crew is about to finalize its period of sea trials.
A domino effect
In fact, as soon as the contract was signed, the current crew of the Normandy will simply be transferred to Provence. The ship will become more Breton than Provençal since its home port will now be in... Brest, the " to ensure the increase in power of anti-submarine warfare capabilities on the Atlantic coast ". As for the current crew of the Provence, it is disembarked and will pass on the Languedoc currently at the end of construction to complete the armament. The arrival of the FREMM frigates in the forces will thus be delayed by several months. Anti-submarine frigates (FASM) Montcalm et John of Vienna, will play extra time: one more year! The dates of withdrawal from active service are thus postponed respectively to 2017 and 2018.
(NGV)
