''Le Terrible'' is a strategic nuclear

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. The boat was launched on 21 March 2008 On 27 January 2010, at 9h25, '' Le Terrible'' launched an

M51 SLBM The M51 SLBM is a French submarine-launched ballistic missile, built by ArianeGroup, and deployed with the French Navy. Designed to replace the M45 SLBM (In French terminology the MSBS – ''Mer-Sol-Balistique-Stratégique'' "Sea-ground-Strategic ...

from underwater, in

Audierne Audierne (; br, Gwaien) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016 the former commune of Esquibien merged into Audierne.North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

; the flight took about 20 minutes. The submarine was put into service on 20 September 2010 armed with the 16 M51 missiles. ''Terrible'' is fitted with a new SYCOBS combat system (SYstem de COmbat Barracuda-SSBN) which will also be installed on the new Barracuda class SSNs. In July 2017 French president Macron visited the submarine in the Atlantic and took part in a simulated missile launch.

Sources and references

Triomphant-class submarines Ships built in France 2008 ships Submarines of France {{France-mil-ship-stub

See also

Sources and references