Overview
- Naval Group unveiled the SCX26 concept at the Euronaval exhibition in Paris on Wednesday, Nov. 4, and emphasized it is a theoretical design study not a ship on order.
- The roughly 170-meter, ~8,000-ton concept is built around a large mission bay and onboard maintenance facilities to launch, recover and sustain aerial, surface and underwater uncrewed systems.
- Naval Group proposes an unusually large weapons fit including more than 100 vertical launch cells, an electromagnetic railgun as the main gun, and a 100-kilowatt laser, with shorter-range launchers and remote secondary guns for point defense.
- Key systems in the concept include UHF and multifunction radars, a full anti-submarine sonar suite, electronic warfare gear, and a data-centric combat system that would use AI to coordinate sensors and drones; the railgun and some directed-energy elements remain technologically immature.
- Naval Group says the study is meant to inform future programs rather than start procurement, but its ideas could influence ship design choices, capability trade-offs and crew roles if costs, integration complexity and weapon maturity allow movement from concept to contracts.