[Rufus Shinra]

So this is what i mean by a three 3 sub fleet system; they have designs for SSK SSN and SSBN, yes i'm aware they have re introduced this and its not a bad reason, while i fully accept they will not use SSK's in their own fleet it does initially swallow a lot of the defense budget initially, but that's more for R&D than anything else, which means they have to cut the R&D budget on the SSN's.

I'm not sure it swallows that much of the SSN budget, if only because the development and procurement cycles for submarines are longer in France than in UK or US, so the SSN gets the experience from the SSK. When you consider both the size and the hybrid propulsion system of the Suffren, for example, it's quite clear it benefitted a lot from the Scorpene know-how, and vice-versa for the Barracuda Shortfin.

Unlike most if not all other countries, our SSK and SSN are roughly the same size (hell, Rubis had a smaller displacement than Surcouf...), which makes a lot of the work for one usable in the other. Which, of course, also means that our SSN are less effective oceanic fleet units compared to dedicated ones (I was astonished at the small size of the SSBN I visited, it 's barely longer than a US SSN).

In terms of private companies gaining R&D funding through a defense budget to develop platforms is what happens, so DCNS would not have developed the Scorpene 100% off its own back using its own funding simply because it doesn't have the financial means to do so, what they tend to do and BAe / LM / Boeing does this a lot as well, is to approach the defense ministers and they end up getting allocated a % of the defense budget for R&D on the understanding any breakthrough technology or useful technology can be bought at a cheaper rate in the future, and also any sales of hardware or software a % of that sale goes back to the budget, almost like a bank loan if you will.

It might not be the same way exactly here. For example, DCNS built the demonstrator for the Gowind stealth corvette on its own money and even allowed the MN to have a go at it even though they weren't interested in buying it, knowing there would be a number of foreign customers for such a class. The MN loved having a lease on an advanced patrol ship for free, DCNS got to say their ship was sailor-tested and approved, and ended up selling almost two dozen to foreign customers.

I don't know how the budget goes for the SSK R&D, but it could be similar.

Yes i guess there is a lot of Francophobia, to be totally honest i loathed working with them, however they do have some good assets its just their mindset and they don't pay bills.

Our mindset is very, very different from the Anglo one, for sure. The social status and the role of the engineer are pretty different compared to UK or US, and then there's how wit and sarcasm are perceived (it's an art here, open jousts being a wonderful sport the same way as the British art of understatement is deeply appreciated on your side of the pond and how both fly above US' head like a SR-71 or even offend them in our case despite how friendly it is from our POV), or the relation to the law (in the US, the written text is absolute, definitive and the point of all attentions, while in France, it's a lot more fluid, with the intent being above the letter a lot more often, as well as interpersonal relationships going above the text itself, all the way to Constitutional debates - the way we consider our Constitution would give aneurysm to most law scholars in the US).

The USN will actually reintroduced TASM back into the fleet in 2021 with the block V the LRASM is in testing and likely will go for sub launched trials around 2023.

Heh, not that sure about the validity of very long range subsonic AShM. It requires uninterrupted communications for one hour or so, which is asking a lot from the opponent.