French frigate Chevalier Paul

Chevalier Paul underway in the Mediterranean Sea on 15 July 2017
History
France
NameChevalier Paul
NamesakeChevalier Paul
Ordered27 October 2000
BuilderDCNS and Thales Group. Lorient shipyard
Laid down13 January 2005
Launched12 July 2006
CommissionedJune 2009
HomeportToulon
Identification
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and typeHorizon-class frigate
Displacement7,050 tonnes[1]
Length152.87 m (501 ft 7 in)
Beam20.3 m (66 ft 7 in)
Draught5.4 m (17 ft 9 in)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 31280 HP GE/Avio LM2500 gas turbines
  • 2 × 5875 HP SEMT Pielstick 12 PA6 STC diesels
  • 1 × beam propeller
  • 2 × 4-blade propellers
Speed29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) (18 on diesel)
Range7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)s, 3500 nmi at 25 knots
Boats & landing
craft carried
EDO, 20-seat EFRC, Hurricane 733
Capacity32 passengers or admiral staff
Complement
  • 26 officers
  • 110 petty officers
  • 38 sailors
Sensors and
processing systems
  • S-1850 LRR tri-dimensional sentry radar with IFF
  • ABF TUS 4110 CL hull sonar
  • Tugged linear antenna with Alto torpedo detector
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • Radar jammer
  • Communication jammer
  • NGDS system (2 decoy launchers, REM, RIR, LAD)
  • Contralto system (2 acoustic decoy launchers).
Armament
Aircraft carried1 × NH90 helicopter

Chevalier Paul is a Horizon-class frigate of the French Marine Nationale commissioned in June 2009, the third vessel of the French Navy named after the 17th century admiral Chevalier Paul. The main mission of this type of ship is the escort and protection of a carrier strike group formed around an aircraft carrier, usually Charles de Gaulle or one of the aircraft carriers of the US Navy,[4] or an amphibious operation carried out by amphibious helicopter carriers. The ship's specialty is air traffic control in a war zone, but it can be employed in a wide variety of missions, such as intelligence-gathering, special forces operations, or in protecting less well-armed vessels. Horizon-class frigates such as Chevalier Paul are the most powerful surface combatants that France has ever built. In service since the end of 2011, it bears the pennant number D621. Its namesake is Jean-Paul de Saumeur, better known as Chevalier Paul, a French naval officer born in Marseille in 1598.

Nantes is the godmother city of Chevalier Paul since 17 March 2012.[5]

  1. ^ "Project Horizon". GlobalSecurity.org. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Présentation Frégate Horizon Chevalier Paul" (in French). Alabordache.fr. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  3. ^ "First Exocet MM40 Block 3c Missiles set for December Delivery". 17 October 2022.
  4. ^ "La frégate de défense aérienne Chevalier Paul escorte le groupe aéronaval de l'USS Nimitz". www.defense.gouv.fr. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  5. ^ Source: Association of Military Cities of the Armed Forces