Triomphant-class submarine
The ' class''' of ballistic missile submarines of the French Navy is the active lead boat class of four boats that entered service in 1997, 1999, 2004, and 2010. These four superseded the older, and they provide the ocean-based component of France's multi-discipline nuclear deterrent strike force, the Force de dissuasion. Their home port is [Île Longue|], Roadstead of Brest, Western Brittany.
Design and construction
The first three boats were originally armed with the French-produced and armed M45 intermediate-range missile, and the fourth vessel,, tested and is equipped with the more advanced M51 missile. Each of the first three boats were retrofitted to the M51 missile standard, with the last M45 offloaded in 2016.Next Generation Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine
In French, these are called Sous-Marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins de Nouvelle Génération abbreviated as SNLE-NG. They have replaced all of the boats, with the last of those six boats being decommissioned in 2008. These submarines carry 16 submarine-launched ballistic missile launching tubes apiece.This class reportedly produces approximately 1/1000 of the detectable noise of the Redoutable-class submarines, and they are ten times more sensitive in detecting other submarines. Initially armed with the M45 missile, they are designed to carry the new M51 missile, which entered active service in 2010., an M51 has been test-fired from one of these submarines across the Atlantic Ocean from near France to the west, and is equipped on . In late 2025 it was reported that the M51.3 variant of the missile had entered operational service. The missile is said to have an operational range of 8,000 to 10,000 km, with a speed of Mach 25 also offering improved accuracy and penetration capabilities.
These boats were all constructed by the Direction des Constructions Navales, and they carry an armament of 16 M45 SLBM or M51 SLBM missiles manufactured by the [Aérospatiale|] company, plus conventional torpedoes and Exocet anti-ship missiles.
List of submarines
The French Navy's goal is to operate a force of four ballistic missile submarines, of which two are expected to be on patrol at any given time.| Name | Construction began | Launched | Commissioned |
| 9 June 1986 | 26 March 1994 | 21 March 1997 | |
| 18 December 1993 | 21 January 1998 | 23 December 1999 | |
| January 1996 | 19 September 2003 | 26 November 2004 | |
| 24 October 2000 | 21 March 2008 | 20 September 2010 |