Poster tampion frigate Suffren

The Suffren was a guided-missile frigate of the French Navy, active from 1969 to 2001. Designed to protect naval forces from air, underwater, and surface threats, it was also capable of supporting land operations. However, it did not have an embarked helicopter. As of 2024, it is being decommissioned.

The first French frigate designed as a guided-missile ship, its mission was to protect the aircraft carriers Foch and Clemenceau. The Suffren class was to consist of three units, but only one was built, allowing for the purchase of F-8E Crusader aircraft. It was distinguished by a massive radome housing the DRBI23 radar.

The Suffren is the seventh ship named after Pierre André de Suffren, with its gun turrets named Héros and Fantasque. Decommissioned in 2001 due to high costs, it then served as a breakwater before being towed for dismantling in Gironde in 2023.

In 2022, suspicions emerged that a missile strike from the Suffren caused the crash of an Air France Caravelle in 1968, prompting an investigation by the Nice prosecutor's office.

Powered by steam turbines, the Suffren was equipped with advanced radars, sonars, and a variety of armaments, including Masurca and Exocet missiles, torpedoes, and cannons.