French Navy increases availability of its top-tier surface ships and their time at sea
The French Navy announced that it has increased the combat readiness of its destroyer and first-class frigate forces to 80%, said Admiral Nicolas Vogel, Chief of the French Navy Staff.
On February 4, at the Paris Navy 2025 conference, jointly organized by the French Navy and the French Institute of International Relations, Admiral Vogel said that the Navy is using double crews on many ships to increase the number of days at sea, thereby increasing combat output, while improving support operations for commissioned ships and increasing platform availability.
“Availability is one of my motivations because by law (the French military planning law), the French Navy has 15 destroyers and frigates. So the way to get more ships is not to build another ship because it is politically decided that there will be 15 ships. “For me, the question is to increase the availability of the ships.” Admiral Vogul, Chief of Staff of the French Navy
The Navy has achieved this first by a major modernization of its in-service maintenance support activities. “The readiness of these ships is now about 80%, which is a very high ratio from a maintenance point of view,” said Admiral Vogul.
Second, the Navy has taken measures to make full use of this availability by increasing the number of days that personnel stay at sea. “The best way to take advantage of this 80% ratio is to have ‘double crews’ on some ships, not only to increase the minimum number of days that seafarers are at sea, but also to double the number of days they are at sea. ”
The admiral explained that the overall effect of these measures is to produce the equivalent of 15 more ships.
“I have more than 15 ships with the highest availability of ships due to the ‘double crew’ system,” he said. “This is how we respond to the need for more ships at sea and fewer ships on land. ”
France’s fifteen “front-line” surface ships include: two Horizon/Forbin-class destroyers; eight Aquitaine-class FREMM multi-mission frigates; and five Lafitte-class frigates.
In due course, the Lafitte frigates will be replaced by five more capable FDI (Defence and Intervention) frigates. The flagship, Admiral Lunage, is currently in the water undergoing sea trials. The five ships are expected to be delivered in 2030.
Improving the readiness of existing platforms is critical for many NATO navies to build the ability to deter through defense in response to growing insecurity in the Euro-Atlantic region sparked by the Russo-Ukrainian war and extensive Russian activities across the theater. Naval leaders recognize that force levels take time to build, even in the face of a serious crisis, so the simplest way to build a maritime presence to enhance deterrence is to increase the availability, readiness and time at sea of available ships.
Regarding improving availability by reducing maintenance requirements, Admiral Fogle cited the FDI Admiral Fogor used the example of the Navy’s ships to illustrate how the Navy is working closely with the commercial sector to improve reliability and support operations. For example, the medium-sized auxiliary diesel generator sets installed on IDF frigates (starting with the Admiral Ronach) are already in use on commercial trucks. “This means that in terms of spare parts, we will be able to get the parts we need in the future because the engine in the truck is the same as the engine in the (auxiliary generator set) on my ship,” Admiral Fogor said. “That way, availability is easily available.”
