Horizon class

A Franco-Italian class of air-defense destroyers, called frigates in French service, built to escort the Charles de Gaulle carrier group and provide fleet-wide air defense with the PAAMS Aster missile system. France operates two units, Forbin and Chevalier Paul.

In service since 2008 · 1 operator countries

Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-07-02

7,050

7,000

nmi

VLS

200

crew

Pricing: Unit cost not publicly disclosed

Procurement snapshot

Availability & export

French export-licensed

CIEEMG inter-ministerial approval; broadly export-oriented.

Channel: DGA / direct commercial

Fielded & proven

Limited · 1 operator

In service since 2008. Status: active · ~2 built.

Lifecycle cost (est.)

No public unit price to model from.

Interoperability

Mk 41 VLS-class

Derived guidance from public data — export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.

Full specifications

Firepower

Armament, payload and guidance.

Main armament Primary weapon: main gun, cannon or missile type.: 76 mm main gun
VLS cells Vertical-launch missile cells on a warship — a proxy for magazine depth. Higher means more missiles before rearming.: 48

Stronger than 76% of warships

Physical

Dimensions, weight and crew.

Length Overall length including gun/probe where applicable.: 153 m

Naval

Displacement, speed, endurance and diving depth.

Displacement Standard displacement in tonnes — the ship’s size class. Larger hulls carry more but cost more and are less agile.: 7,050 t
Full-load displacement Displacement fully loaded with fuel, stores and munitions.: 7,050 t
Max speed Top speed in knots (surfaced, for submarines). Higher aids positioning and screening.: 29 kn

Stronger than 54% of warships
Range Cruising range in nautical miles. Nuclear vessels are effectively unlimited (fuel-wise). Higher means more reach without replenishment.: 7,000 nmi

Stronger than 62% of warships
Complement Crew size. Fewer eases manning cost; more may indicate a larger, more capable platform.: 200

Sensors & avionics

Radar, sensor suite and datalinks.

Radar Primary radar. AESA (active electronically scanned array) is the current state of the art.: EMPAR multifunction radar
Sensors IRST, EO/IR turrets, laser designators, sniper pods, thermal sights.: PAAMS air-defense system

Program

Cost, production scale and operators.

Units built Total production run. Higher means proven manufacturing, mature logistics and spares availability.: 2

Stronger than 28% of warships
Operator countries Number of countries operating the system. More operators means broader support ecosystem.: 1

Stronger than 45% of warships

Specifications compiled from public Naval Group and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations — treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-07-02.

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