The Royal Moroccan Navy has taken delivery of multimission frégate Européen multi-mission (FREMM) frigate, Mohammed VI, from DCNS.
Currently, DCNS is under contract to build 11 FREMM ships for the French Navy and one for the Moroccan Navy.
DCNS chairman and CEO Patrick Boissier said Mohammed VI will be the biggest and most powerful warship for the Royal Moroccan Navy when it enters service.
"Aside from her exception capabilities, the Mohammed VI is a very special warship for us because Morocco was the first country after France to order a FREMM frigate designed and built by DCNS," Boissier said.
The French Navy received the first FREMM vessel, Aquitaine, in November 2012, while the third ship of the class, named Normandie, is scheduled to be commissioned in May 2014.
The fourth FREMM frigate, Provence, was floated out on 18 September 2013 while the fifth and sixth FREMM vessels are under at different stages of assembly.
The 142m-long FREMM ships have a displacement capacity of 6,000t, a range of 15k, can cruise at a speed of 27k and are each capable of accommodating a crew of 145.
To provide anti-ship capability, the Mohammed VI is fitted with MBDA’s Exocet MM40 block three anti-ship missiles, which is controlled through a CMS multifunction console by a Mer-Mer weapon control system.
In addition to one 76mm main gun, the ship is armed with 19 anti-submarine torpedoes as well as 16 Aster missiles to provide protection against supersonic and subsonic threats.
Image: DCNS hands over Mohammed VI vessel to Moroccan Navy. Photo: courtesy of DCNS.
