A consortium led by CNN MCO with Thales and CS Group has started modernising the French Navy’s three amphibious helicopter carriers with a new inertial navigation system intended to improve resilience in contested electronic environments.
The work is part of the Navy’s maintenance and modernisation effort managed by the Fleet Support Service. According to the release, installation of the upgraded system on the first ship, Mistral, has been completed during its maintenance period in Toulon.
The broader programme covers the PHA class vessels Mistral, Tonnerre and Dixmude, as well as in service support for the replenishment ship Somme. CNN MCO’s contract, awarded in 2022, includes more than forty modernisation studies and has already produced about fifty upgrades across the three vessels.
The project addresses obsolescence in critical navigation systems by replacing older equipment with Thales’ TopAxyz units. Thales describes these inertial systems as operating on internally controlled data from onboard sensors without reliance on external signals. The company presents this as an advantage in environments where radionavigation systems may be jammed or spoofed. Florent Chauvancy of Thales said “we’re proud to play a part in providing resilient navigation solutions for France’s naval vessels as a prerequisite for ensuring freedom of action by armed forces at sea.”
CS Group is responsible for integrating the Thales units into a complete navigation suite that it provides to the Navy. The company’s role includes integrating navigation sensors, distributing data securely and ensuring cyber resilience. Frédéric Dussart of CS Group said the partnership underscores the value of domestic expertise and supports what he called coherent integration of the navigation chain.
CNN MCO is handling engineering, installation and testing. The company said it has devoted nearly 1,500 hours of engineering work to retrofit studies so far. Deputy Director Céline Barazer was quoted saying “this programme confirms CNN MCO’s ability to carry out complex upgrades in shipboard environments.”
The release states that installation across the three carriers will follow their routine maintenance timetables through 2027, with Dixmude and Tonnerre scheduled after Mistral. CNN MCO and the Fleet Support Service plan to coordinate installation windows to maintain operational availability at sea.
The RN Should have purchased the 2 that was denied to Russia and later sold to Egypt. That would have solved the current lack of assault ships for the Royal Marines.
Can you imagine the outcry form the Unions?, plus it would set a precedent that we only order British made warships.
Bae had an Ocean replacement design years ago. An order should have been placed.
But we did not have a lack of assault ships..as well as two 80,000 ton carriers we had two perfectly good 20,000 ton assault ships.. with a good decade of life left in each.. we did not need anything else until the idiots Simply did not recruit the crews needed to deploy them and then sold them for pocket change..
We did not hit a crisis of shipbuilding we hit a crisis of in year budget stupidity that cost us half a billion pounds of capital ship investment.
We should get three of something similar for MRSS, make sure it’s a through deck design for more future versatility.
This is why I think MRSS needs to be split.. essentially MRSS is replacing 6 ships 2 20,000 ton ships and 4 15-16,000 ton ships.. there is no way the RN can run 6 20,000+ ships.. personally I think it needs to go for 2 large deck classic amphibious vessels ( if they were really cleaver they would build them to take fixed wing drones and even a F35b flight), something similar to Trieste and then 4 10-15,000 ton littoral combatants.
You’re assuming we even get 6 ships
MRSS is not helicopter focused, not like we have decent marine Helos anyway
When you look at the French navy and Italian navy amphibious capabilities you can really see where the RNs capabilities have declined.. and amphibious capability is one of those areas.. it’s easy to blame the government but a lot of what the government does is guided by the executive agencies ( army, navy and airforce ) as executive agencies are not passive recipients of instructions ( although they like to allow the public to think they are). So you do have to wonder if this is in part to due to inter service fuckwittery that the UK seems to be very very good at.. the RAF not pushing hard for maritime patrol aircraft, diverting from F35b, no organic airborne anti ship missiles shows a lack of engagement in maritime power from the boys in blue.. the complete lack of any movement on medium lift helicopters and the dropping of focused fixed wing tactical transports shows a lack of willingness to support the army.. the RN dumping its amphibious capability shows a lack of willingness to get involved in anything to do with the land and the armies reciprocated utter unwillingness to train any of its battalions in amphibious operations shows a complete lack of contemplating the sea.
Is it any wonder we have the idiocy of losing our amphibious vessels.. after all it was the navies choice to crew or not crew Bulwark.
More important ships to crew than Bulwark
Just an interesting thought experiment what would we do if china decided it was having the Falklands? And was going to dumped a couple of brigades of heavy amphibious combined arms brigades on the island… not something that would happen now.. but in a decade when china wanted a bridgehead into the Antarctic and a secure south Atlantic bastion.. after all who would come and help ?
Hello? The French maintaining and keeping Amphibious ships we hear from all quarters are obsolete.
Well well!
all quarters within your country, outside no one thinks these are obsolete