The French Navy’s D’Estienne d’Orves-class corvette Commandant Birot F796 transited the Istanbul Strait on 11 May and entered the Black Sea. Before that, the French corvette entered the Black Sea in November 2019.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet is has started to track the ship’s activities in Black Sea, the Russia’s National Defense Control Center reported on Tuesday.
“The Black Sea Fleet has started to track the French Navy’s patrol vessel Commandant Birot that entered the Black Sea on May 11, 2021,” the Center said.
The ship is expected to stay in the Black Sea until May 29, 2021.
Commandant Birot F796
Commandant Birot F796 is a D’Estienne d’Orves-class corvette. She was launched on 22 May 1982 and commissioned on 14 March 1984. The corvette is designed to provide support for strategic submarine forces, conduct reconnaissance and patrol missions. She is homeported at the Toulon naval base.
Specifications:
| Displacement: | 1,100 t (1,100 long tons) standard 1,350 t (1,250 long tons) full load |
| Length: | 80,5 m (262 ft 6 in) |
| Beam: | 10.3 m (33 ft 10 in) |
| Draught: | 5.6 m (17 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 SEMT Pielstick 12 PC 2 V400 diesel engines |
| Speed: | 23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph) |
| Range: | 4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 90 |
| Sensors and processing systems: | DRBV 51A Air/surface radar DRBC 32E fire control radar Decca 1226 navigation radar DUBA 25 hull sonar |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: | 1 ARBR 16 radar interceptor2 Dagaie decoy launchers 1 SLQ-25 Nixie countermeasure system |
| Armament: | 1 × 100 mm CADAM gun turret with Najir fire control system and CMS LYNCEA2 × 20 mm modèle F2 guns 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns 1 SIMBAD Air Defense System (Mistral missiles) |
Check out Naval Library App to find out the specifications of D’Estienne d’Orves-class corvettes.
