Redoutable-class submarine (1967)

Redoutable-class submarine

Le Redoutable
Class overview
Name	Le Redoutable class
Builders	DCNS
Operators	French Navy
Preceded by	Gymnote
Succeeded by	Triomphant class
Built	1964–1985
In commission	1971–2008
Completed	6
Retired	6
Preserved	1
General characteristics
Type	Ballistic missile submarine
Displacement	8,000 tons (submerged)
Length	128 m (419 ft 11 in)
Beam	10.6 m (34 ft 9 in)
Draught	10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	One PWR 16,000 shp (12,000 kW), HEU <= 90%[1]
Speed	Over 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	Unlimited distance; 20–25 years
Complement	15 officers 120 sailors
Sensors and processing systems	1 DRUA 33 1 DMUX 21 1 DSUV 61B VLF 1 DUUX 5 ARUR 12 radar detector
Armament	16 × M4 MSBS (Mer-Sol Balistique Stratégique) nuclear missiles 4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes F-17 and L-5 torpedoes SM-39 Exocet anti-ship missile

The Le Redoutable-class submarine was a ballistic missile submarine class of the French Navy (Marine Nationale). In French, the type is called Sous-marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins (SNLE), literally "Missile-launching nuclear submarine". When commissioned, they constituted the strategic part of the naval component of the French nuclear triad, then called Force de frappe (the aircraft carriers Clemenceau and Foch constituting the tactical part).

The class entered active service in 1971 with Redoutable, six submarines were built in total. All have since been decommissioned. The structural changes in Inflexible have seen it regarded as a different class from the early boats. The class has been superseded by the Triomphant class.