French aviso Commandant Ducuing

Commandant Ducuing (F795) is a D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso in the French Navy. The vessel is home ported at Toulon.^[2]

Commandant Ducuing
History
France
Name	Commandant Ducuing
Namesake	Gabriel Ducuing
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient
Laid down	1 October 1980
Launched	26 September 1981
Commissioned	17 March 1983
Decommissioned	Expected, 2025
Homeport	Toulon
Identification	Callsign: FADC Pennant number: F795
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso
Displacement	1,100 t (1,100 long tons) standard 1,270 t (1,250 long tons) full load
Length	80 m (262 ft 6 in) oa 76 m (249 ft 4 in) pp
Beam	10.3 m (33 ft 10 in)
Draught	5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Propulsion	2 SEMT Pielstick 12 PC 2 V400 diesel engines 8,900 kW (12,000 bhp), 2 shafts
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	1 Air/surface DRBV 51A sentry radar 1 DRBC 32E fire control radar 1 Decca 1226 navigation radar 1 DUBA 25 hull sonar (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs)
Electronic warfare & decoys	1 ARBR 16 radar interceptor 2 Dagaie decoy launchers 1 SLQ-25 Nixie countermeasure system
Armament	2 Exocet MM38 SSMs (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs)[1] 1 × 100 mm CADAM gun turret with Najir fire control system and CMS LYNCEA 2 × 20 mm modèle F2 guns 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns 4 × L3 or L5 type torpedoes in four fixed catapults (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs)[1] 1 × sextuple Bofors 375 mm rocket launcher (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs)[1]

Design

Main article: D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso

Crewed by 90 sailors, these vessels have the reputation of being among the most difficult in bad weather. Their high windage makes them particularly sensitive to pitch and roll as soon as the sea is formed.

Their armament, consequent for a vessel of this tonnage, allows them to manage a large spectrum of missions. During the Cold War, they were primarily used to patrol the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean in search of Soviet Navy submarines. Due to the poor performance of the hull sonar, as soon as an echo appeared, the reinforcement of an anti-submarine warfare frigate was necessary to chase it using its towed variable depth sonar.^[3]

Their role as patrollers now consists mainly of patrol and assistance missions, as well as participation in UN missions (blockades, flag checks) or similar marine policing tasks (fight against drugs, extraction of nationals, fisheries control, etc.). Their anti-ship missiles have been landed, but they carry several machine guns more suited to their current missions.

The vessel's construction cost was estimated at 270,000,000 French francs.^[4]

Construction and career

Commandant Ducuing was laid down on 1 October 1980 at Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient. Launched on 26 September 1981 and commissioned on 17 March 1983.

She took part in Opération Artimon in 1990. In April 2009 the aviso took part in Operation Tanit, an operation to free a French yacht that was hijacked by Somali pirates.^[5] The aviso, sailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, made a stopover on 8 and 9 June 2010 at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, which was a first for a French ship for 32 years.^[6]

In June 2015, the ship was responsible for monitoring bluefin tuna fishing off Malta.^[7]

In 2022, it was indicated that the ship would be equipped with the SMDM (navy mini-drone system) to enhance her surveillance capabilities.^[2] In 2022–23, the ship deployed to the Gulf of Guinea for two months to assist local navies in countering, principally Chinese, illegal overfishing.^[8]

In May 2025, Commandant Ducuing participated in her final international exercises, "Obangame Express 25" off the coasts of Senegal and Gambia. She then departed for the Mediterranean to prepare for her decommissioning from service.^[9] It is planned that she will eventually be replaced by the Patrouilleurs Hauturiers vessels due to enter service from 2027.^[10]