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The Wanderer
French navy loses Advanced Sonar device
French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie confirmed on Wednesday that France had lost a three-million-euro (3.7-million-U.S.-dollars) sonar navigation device after its cable was severed in stormy waters.
"An inquiry is underway to determine whether a technical or a human error is at the origin of this problem," she told reporters.
French magazine Le Canard Enchaine reported this week that the captain of the De Grasse frigate decided to try out the 10-ton sonar in an exercise in rough seas of the southwestern Gulf of Gascony on March 24.
The sonar, one of the most sophisticated in the world, is capable of detecting an enemy submarine at a distance of 150 km.
The cable became detached and the device is believed to have sunk to the seabed. France has only two of the machines.
Xinhua
People's Daily Online, China
Hehe I love stories like this, does anyone have any other ones, the RN Ship hitting Lord Howe springs to mind the only rock for thousands of miles etc. Just something lighter to chat about.
French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie confirmed on Wednesday that France had lost a three-million-euro (3.7-million-U.S.-dollars) sonar navigation device after its cable was severed in stormy waters.
"An inquiry is underway to determine whether a technical or a human error is at the origin of this problem," she told reporters.
French magazine Le Canard Enchaine reported this week that the captain of the De Grasse frigate decided to try out the 10-ton sonar in an exercise in rough seas of the southwestern Gulf of Gascony on March 24.
The sonar, one of the most sophisticated in the world, is capable of detecting an enemy submarine at a distance of 150 km.
The cable became detached and the device is believed to have sunk to the seabed. France has only two of the machines.
Xinhua
People's Daily Online, China
Hehe I love stories like this, does anyone have any other ones, the RN Ship hitting Lord Howe springs to mind the only rock for thousands of miles etc. Just something lighter to chat about.