The submarine forces of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

(Forces sous-marines or FSM) is the submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 component of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

.

It is a self-sufficient command - providing the maintenance and support of its own vessels - served by 3,300 personnel and made up of two components:

• the force océanique stratégique
  Force Océanique Stratégique
  The Force océanique stratégique is the ballistic missile submarine force of the French Navy. It is one of the two components of the submarine forces of the French Navy and the sea-based component of the French nuclear deterrent.- History :The FOST was created in the early 1960s, around the need...
  
  (FOST), made up of four ballistic missile submarine
  Ballistic missile submarine
  A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine equipped to launch ballistic missiles .-Description:Ballistic missile submarines are larger than any other type of submarine, in order to accommodate SLBMs such as the Russian R-29 or the American Trident...
  
  s, based at île Longue
  Île Longue
  Île Longue is a peninsula of the roadstead of Brest. It is the base of the SNLE, the French ballistic missile submarines, and as such one of the most secretive and heavily defended places in France.-Geography:...
  
  
• the escadrille des sous-marins nucléaires d'attaque (ESNA), the nuclear attack submarines squadron made up of 6 SSNs, based at the Toulon
  Toulon
  Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
  
   arsenal

The commander of FOST (ALFOST) is also in overall command of the whole submarine force, under the authority of the chef d'état-major de la marine.

External links

• http://www.defense.gouv.fr/marine - French Navy site

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