French submarine L'Inflexible (S 615)

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For other ships of the same name, see French ship Inflexible.

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Career (France)

Builder:	DCN Cherbourg
Laid down:	27 March 1980
Launched:	23 June 1982
Commissioned:	1 April 1985
Decommissioned:	planned for 2010
Homeport:	Île Longue
Fate:	Museum ship
General characteristics
Class and type:	SNLE
Displacement:	9,000 tons (submerged)
Length:	130 m
Beam:	10,60 m
Draught:	10 m
Propulsion:	One PWR, 16,000 shp
Speed:	over 20 knots (37 km/h)
Range:	Essentially unlimited
Complement:	15 officers 120 sailors
Sensors and processing systems:	1 DRUA 33 1 DMUX 21 1 DSUV 61B VLF 1 DUUX 5 ARUR 12 radar detector
Armament:	16 M4 MSBS (Mer Sol Balistique Stratégique) nuclear missiles four 533 mm torpedo tubes F-17 and L-5 torpedoes SM-39 Exocet

The Inflexible (S 615) is the sixth and final of the Redoutable class SNLE ("Sous-marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins", "Nuclear Missile-Launching Submarine") of the FOST, the submarine nuclear deterrent component of the French Navy.

Construction began on March 27, 1980; launched on June 23, 1982, she was commissioned on April 1, 1985.

Inflexible uses basically the same design as the other Redoutable-class vessels, but has yet benefited from technological advances over its predecessors:

She uses the M4 missile, which carries 6 independent 150 kilotonne of TNT equivalent nuclear warheads. Range is reported to be "over 4500 km".
Miscellaneous improvements were made in electrical systems, nuclear systems (improving safety and stealth), rudder and engines (improving reability and stealth).
TIT (Traitement de l'Information Tactique, "Tactical Information Processor"), a cluster of French-designed computers and serial digital bus links for intersystem communication.
DMUX21 sonar.
Capability of launching the SM 39 Exocet anti-ship missile
Improved inertial navigation system.
Improved internal communication system—SNTI, Système Numérisé de Transmissions Intérieures (Digital Internal Communication System)
Miscellaneous acoustical stealth improvements
Improved hull profile

The other Redoutable-class submarines have been modified to meet the standards of the Inflexible ("Refonte M4"). The Inflexible is to be decommissioned around 2010.

[edit] In entertainment

Inflexible has inspired Le Soleil ne se lève pas pour nous ("No sunrise for us") by Robert Merle, a 1987 semi-fictionous book in form of a romanced documentary.