French Navy Commissions Tourville Suffren-Class Nuclear Submarine
The French Navy has commissioned its newest the new Suffren-class submarine, Tourville (S637) on 12 July. It is the third of six Suffren-class SSNs planned for the French fleet and was originally delivered late last year, on 16 November 2024. Tourville was built by Naval Group and was laid down in June 2011 at Cherbourg and launched in July 2024. The submarine is named after 17th century French admiral Anne Hilarion de Tourville and will replace the older Rubis-class submarines.
Tourville displaces approximately 4,650 tonnes when surfaced and about 5,300 tonnes submerged. The hull measures roughly 99.5 meters in length with an 8.8 meters beam. It can accommodate a crew of around 65 people. The submarine is powered by a French-designed K15 pressurized-water reactor (150 MW), which gives it nearly unlimited range(around 70 days of provisions without refueling) and a submerged speed exceeding 25 knots.
As a modern attack submarine, Tourville is heavily armed. It carries four 533mm torpedo tubes and can carry weapons including MBDA MdCN naval cruise missiles for long-range land strikes, Exocet SM39 anti-ship missiles, F21 heavyweight wire-guided torpedoes, and FG29 mines. Its missions include anti-surface, land-attack strike, anti-submarine patrols, intelligence gathering, and supporting special operations. Tourville is fitted with cutting-edge sonar and combat systems (Naval Group’s SYCOBS combat management system and Thales sonar suites) to detect threats.
Tourville was handed over to the Navy in November 2024 after extensive sea trials in mid-2024 and was officially declared fully operational in July 2025. Future missions are expected to include operations in the Arctic to test the boat in icy conditions. The remaining submarines of the class will join the fleet over the next few years (the fourth boat, De Grasse, around 2026, and the last two, Rubis and Casabianca, by the late 2020s). Each Suffren-class submarine is designed for a service life of over 30 years, meaning Tourville will serve well into the mid-21st century and provide France with advanced undersea deterrence for decades to come.