(17 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toulon, France - 15 April 2024
1. Various of military personnel exiting one of France’s nuclear-powered attack submarines being readied in naval dockyard for sea patrol with NATO forces.
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Manuel Bienvenu, commander of submarine: ++PART OVERLAID BY SHOT 3 AND 4++
“So we are ‘sous-marin nucleaire d’attaque,’ meaning nuclear attack submarines. So that means that we have nuclear propulsion, as I mentioned earlier, so we have all of the advantages of nuclear propulsion. But we have the conventional mission of submarines, meaning anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering, special forces, well, work with special forces, but we don’t have nuclear weapons on board this type of submarine.”
3. Military personnel carrying supplies
4. Various of military personnel threading strips of lights in vessel’s control room
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Manuel Bienvenu, commander of submarine: ++PART OVERLAID BY SHOT 4++
“The missions evolve. But today my mission is to escort the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, in the framework of the (NATO) Akila mission. The international situation can change, can evolve rapidly, including during the mission. And we are capable of responding to all demands made of us when the situation evolves."
6. Chief petty officer Tony (surname withheld by the French military) greasing the submarine’s rear hatch
STORYLINE:
Another week, another mission for one of France’s veteran nuclear-powered attack submarines.
The Associated Press got rare access aboard a French navy Rubis-class submarine as it was being readied for sea on Monday in sprawling naval dockyards in the Mediterranean port of Toulon.
France’s fleets of nuclear-powered submarines are shrouded in secrecy.
The French military would not allow this submarine to be identified by name.
A naval security officer scrutinized all the images that AP journalists took aboard the vessel and asked that some be deleted or cropped to avoid showing submarine technology and security measures at the docks.
Aboard the cramped vessel, submariners crammed into the confines of a small compartment and carried out maintenance work.
Others loaded supplies aboard, carrying boxes down narrow gangways.
In the control room, crew members hung strips of lights amid the spaghetti of cabling and equipment.
This vessel is one of three Rubis-class attack submarines that France bases in Toulon. They carry a crew of 70.
Powered by their nuclear reactor, they don’t need to refuel often and can patrol the oceans for months on end.
The Rubis can carry anti-submarine and anti-ship torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. Their jobs can include protecting France’s larger nuclear-armed submarines. France has four of those.
On its upcoming mission, this submarine will be escorting France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier as it takes part in an operation in the Mediterranean with the NATO military alliance.
The French carrier strike group will be under direct NATO command during the operation, which is a first.
Commander Manuel Bienvenu, the submarine’s chief officer, said his vessel will soon be leaving port to join the strike force.
France’s navy is replacing its Rubis-class submarines with more modern and more heavily armed nuclear-powered submarines.
The first of the new Suffren class of attack submarines has been in service since June 2022. The second, the Duguay Trouin, went into service this month. Another four Suffren-class submarines are to join the fleet by 2030.
AP video shot by: John Leicester
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