Focus on France’s next-generation SSNs

“There are no silver medals in this game. When facing the enemy, the only option is to be the best and to win,” said Admiral Christophe Prazuck, French Navy chief of staff, at a press conference in Cherbourg on 12 July. He was responding to a question on the merits of France’s next-generation Barracuda-type nuclear-powered attack submarines (aka SSNs), compared to the highest performance SSNs deployed by other navies. Admiral Prazuck, who served in the submarine force in the 1980s, then on ASW frigates in the 1990s, stands by his unequivocal reply.