Monge

   The Monge missile range instrumentation ship was completed in 1992. It undertook much of the previous Poincare's tasks. The Monge is flagship of the Trials Squadron and is also used for space surveillance by the French Space Agency. However it can be also used as an intelligence collection vessel.

   The Monge is named after the great French mathematician Gaspard Monge, which was also a brief Navy minister during the French Revolution.

   This ship has a crew of 120 naval personnel and up to 100 civilian and military technicians. The Monge is notably well equipped and carry state-of-the art measurement and observation devices enabling it to track, monitor and intercept data from missiles or satellites. The Monge is an essential part of French strategic nuclear missile programme.

   The vessel has DRBV 15C air search and two navigation radars, and it's mission equipment includes Stratus Gascogne, Armor (two), Savoie and Antares (two) missile-tracking radars, laser radar, an optronic tracking unit and 14 telemetry antennae. Real-time communication with mainland France is provided by a Syracuse satellite communications system. Vessel is painted in white, rather than usual gray of military ships, in order to limit the deformation of the shell under the heat of the sun, as very precise settings are necessary for the onboard radars.

   Telemeasures room is fitted with supercomputers stocking and recording all the data. This data is only partially processed abroad and is transferred to mainland via satellite communication system. It is worth mentioning that the ship has hundreds of kilometers of high-speed connection wires, linking al the communication equipment.

  This ship is powered by diesel units, rather than combined gas turbines or nuclear reactor. It has a speed of only 15 knots, however speed is not the main factor for a vessel of this type. Electrical power developed by the ship could be sufficient for a small city of 20 000. Much of this electricity is needed for a very sophisticated refrigeration system.

   The Monge is currently one of a very few telecommunication vessels in the world. The US and Russian fleets have no equivalent to this ship. Instead they use ground-based stations to track missile flights on 8 to 10 000 km.
 

   This article was sent us by THOMAS KYLE

   Thank you Thomas!

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