"We can repair the Pearl and we will repair it," said Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, on Thursday.
The submarine had been seriously damaged by a fire on June 12 while it was being renovated in Toulon.
The French nuclear attack submarine Perle, devastated by a fire in June, will be repaired, Armed Minister Florence Parly announced Thursday.
“We can repair the Pearl and we will repair it,” she said on the sidelines of the Euronaval online show.
The front part of the submarine, damaged by fire, is going to be cut up and "we are going to weld the back of the Pearl with the front of the Saphir", a submarine of the same class decommissioned last year.
The submarine had been badly damaged
The submarine was severely damaged by fire on June 12 while it was undergoing renovation in Toulon.
The fire was "born of a lighting which began to consume a sheet of vinyl plastic which was in a wooden box" installed within the framework of the work, had explained at the beginning of September the chief of staff of the navy Pierre Vandier.
The submarine was then emptied of its weapons, electronic equipment and nuclear fuel, but the fire damaged the "thick hull" of the vessel, an alloy several centimeters thick and very elastic which allows the vessel to withstand the pressure of the depths. .
The repair yard, led by the industrial Naval Group in Cherbourg, should mobilize 300 people and last six months, detailed the minister.
Once this operation has been carried out, the submarine "will then complete its major maintenance at the point where it was interrupted", specified Florence Parly.
"The road ahead is long and arduous" and the decision will be "re-evaluated at each stage of the repair", she warned.
"We will be particularly demanding with regard to the test and return to sea protocol" to ensure the reliability of the vessel.
The Minister wishes to "preserve the independence of France"
Repairing the Pearl "is not only a remarkable industrial operation, it is first and foremost to preserve the independence of France," recalled the Minister.
Nuclear attack submarines (ANS) participate in nuclear deterrence because they are responsible for escorting nuclear missile launching submarines (SSBNs), carrying nuclear missiles.
However, with the withdrawal of the Sapphire from service and the burning of the Pearl, the Navy can only count on four submarines instead of six, pending the entry into service of the new Barracuda-class, the Suffren, expected. mid-2021.