(with
a nice MS paint graphic from HI Sutton below)
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2024/03/france-cuts-steel-on-its-first-next-gen-ssbn-snle-3g/
Confirmation that France's SNLE 3G future SSBN project has begun comes hot on the heels of the French built future Dutch Orka announcement.
According to a 2021 article, the first of
four 15,000+ ton displacement SNLE 3G submarines is to be commissioned in 2035,
when the Le Triomphant has been in commission for close to 40 years (actually
ok for a boomer - USS Ohio will be in service for 44 years when
she decommissions in 2026), but considering the last Suffren SSN (1/3rd the
displacement of the SNLE-3G) is predicted to take 8 years to build, expecting
to launch the first SSBN in 'the early 2030s' is overly ambitious.
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A major part of the SNLE 3G project will be the development of France's third? generation submarine reactor called the "K22". This will have an output of 220 MW(th = thermal) which will represent a major increase in power over the Triomphant class' K15 (150 MW(th)) reactor.
Like the US Columbia-class, the SNLE 3Gs will probably utilise electric drive, rather than mechanical reduction gears) for quieter/stealthy operation.