The Cassard class (Type F70 AA) was a class of two anti-air warfare destroyers of the French Navy introduced in the latter 1980s/early 1990s. The class was an air defence variant of the . The two classes have a different armament and propulsion system mounted on an identical hull. Their primary role was to provide air cover for a fleet, an aeronaval group, a convoy & a littoral point. Their secondary role was to manage air assets coordination & aircraft control for the force, especially through Link 16.They can also be used for research, identification or presence missions. Both ships were assigned to the Force d'Action Navale. The lead ship of the class, Cassard, was retired in 2019 followed by the retirement of Jean Bart in 2021.
The experience gained during the design and construction of the Cassard type was used for the design of the .
Design
The Cassard-class frigate was initially designed to replace the four anti-air warfare vessels in service at the time. Initially procured with four ships in the class, (the third and fourth hulls authorized for construction in 1983), the class was cut back to two vessels after the United States chose to terminate the production of the Standard SM-1MR missile. The prolonged design period led to the plans being redrawn several times. This provided the ships a maximum speed of and a range of at .
- 1 DIBV2A infra-red alert system
- 2 DRBN34 navigation and landing radar
- 1 DUBV 24C hull sonar
- Syracuse II satellite communication system
- 1 ARBR 17 radar detector
- 1 SAIGON radio emission detector
- 1 ARBB 33 jammer
- 2 SAGAIE NG decoy launchers
- 2 DAGAIE decoy launchers
Ships in class
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! colspan="6" |Cassard class construction data