Cassard class air defence frigate

The Cassard class (Type F70 AA) is a class of AA (air defence) frigates of the French Navy. The class is an air defence variant of the Georges Leygues class. The two classes have a different armament and propulsion system mounted on an identical hull. Their primary role is to provide air cover for a fleet, an aeronaval group, or a convoy. They can also be used for research, identification or presence missions.

The experience gained during the design and construction of the Cassard type was used for the design of the La Fayette type.

The two elements of the class are

• D614 Cassard
• D615 Jean Bart

They will be decommissioned with the arrival of FREDA air defence frigates 2020-2022.

Cassard class air defence frigate
Displacement:	4,500 tons
Length:	139 m
Beam:	14 m
Draught:	6 m
Propulsion:	4 x SEMT Pielstick 18PA6-V280 BTC diesel engines 42,000 hp
Speed:	29 knots
Range:	8,000 nm
Complement:	250
Armament:	Anti-air; 1 x Mk 13 launcher (40 x Standard SM-1MR anti-air missiles) Anti-ship; 8 x MM40 Exocet anti-ship missiles Anti-submarine; 2 x fixed torpedo tubes (10x L5 mod 4 torpedoes) Guns; 1 x Creusot- Loire Compact 100mm/55 Mod 68 DP gun 2 x 20mm F2 anti-aircraft guns 4 x 12.7mm machine guns CIWS; 2 x Sadral sextuple launcher (39 x Mistral CIWS anti-air missiles)
Aircraft carried:	1 x Eurocopter AS 565 Panther anti-submarine helicopter