TechnicAtome has awarded ECA Group a contract to deliver electrical systems for the French Navy’s third-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SNLE 3G) program in its implementation phase.
The contract follows a competition for the project that mobilized TechnicAtome teams for over a year.
“I am delighted with this partnership with ECA Group, which proposed an innovative technological solution for our future on-board power plants on the SNLE 3G,” TechnicAtome Deputy Managing Director Olivier Huet said.
“TechnicAtome has forged solid, close links with its equipment suppliers; I am looking forward to this long term partnership with ECA Group.”
ECA Group and TechnicAtome continue to collaborate on electrical systems for other submarine projects, including the Barracuda nuclear attack submarine and Le Triomphant-class ballistic missile submarine.
“This is the beginning of a long partnership,” ECA Group CEO Dominique Giannoni added. “We will provide power conversion solutions adapted to a demanding and constrained environment.”
French SNLE 3G Program
French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly announced the development of the SNLE 3G in February 2021 at the Centre of Expertise for Hydrodynamic techniques of the French Defence Procurement Agency.
The first submarine of the class is expected to be fully operational by 2035. Three other submarines will follow every five years until the 2090s.
The SNLE 3G will replace the French Navy’s second-generation ballistic nuclear submarines, which will be decommissioned between the 2030s and 2040s.
Paris-based shipbuilder Naval Group was selected as the prime contractor in collaboration with TechnicAtome for the nuclear boiler room of the SNLE 3G-class submarines.
In 2018, the French Defence Procurement Agency tapped Thales to research and develop the next-generation sonar system for the SNLE 3G program.
