Maxime Vignol, commander of the BBPD Achéron

He replaces lieutenant de vaisseau (LV) Thibaut Verdenal. Thus, during the 13 months of command of LV Thibaut Verdenal, the sailors of the BBPD Achéron participated, in Portugal, in the REPMUS exercise whose objective was the testing of surface and underwater drones, and in the harbor environment mine warfare exercise CUTAWAY 24 before conducting a deployment in the Adriatique focused on diving and historical ammunition expertise. Originally from Haute Savoie, LV Maxime Vignol entered the École navale in 2018. After a surface warrior training course specializing as a gunnery missile officer, he was assigned to the patrouilleur de haute-mer (PHM) Commandant Ducuing where he served as head of the Weapons department and then assistant operations commander during two Corymbe missions in Afrique de l'Ouest. He was then assigned to Crew B of the frégate multi-missions (FREMM) Provence as head of the Self-Defense sector, a vessel with which he took part in the GAN AKILA and CLEMENCEAU 25 deployments.

FRONTEX MISSION

Furthermore, Guillaume Soubirant took command of the Flottille de Perfectionnement du Surfacier de Toulon. Thus, on August 27, vice-amiral (VA) De Briançon, deputy admiral to the admiral commanding the Force d'Action Navale (FAN) and chief of staff of the FAN, formally recognized capitaine de frégate (CF) Guillaume Soubirant as commander of the Flottille de Perfectionnement du Surfacier, replacing capitaine de vaisseau (CV) Rémi Coppens. Originally from Clermont-Ferrand, married and father of two boys, capitaine de frégate (CF) Guillaume Soubirant entered the École navale in 2001. He served aboard anti-submarine frigates based in Brest until 2013 and participated in numerous missions (aircraft carrier escort, fight against piracy, Corymbe mission, mission in the Grand Nord and support for deterrence). After a first staff assignment, he commanded the aviso Enseigne de vaisseau Jacoubet from January 2015 to August 2016, with which he notably took part in the maritime defense mission of the territory and the FRONTEX mission. He then served as an expert in his field of specialty, "underwater warfare" within the staff of the admiral commanding the Force d'Action Navale before joining the État-major de la Marine in Paris where he finalized the FREMM armament program. He took command of the Flottille de Perfectionnement du Surfacier de Toulon on August 27.

OPERATIONAL UNIT

For two years, CV Rémi Coppens directed the transformation of the former Groupement de Transformation et de Renfort de Toulon (GTR/T) into a training center integrated into the Force d'Action Navale: the Flottille de Perfectionnement du Surfacier de Toulon (FPS/T). Now a complete operational unit, the FPS/T offers specialized training to sailors assigned to all surface vessels. Under the direction of CV Coppens, the FPS/T diversified its training courses, including adaptation internships, awareness sessions, and simulator sessions for all units of the Force d'Action Navale. It also provided local support to sailors following a modular continuous training curriculum (FCM), mainly anti-submarine detectors and electricians, notably thanks to a specific tracking software called FFAST. In addition, CV Rémi Coppens contributed to developing the Marine nationale's innovation laboratory in Toulon (FANLAB/T) and creating the section d'emploi des plongeurs isolés de la Méditerranée (SEPIM). All of this has made it possible to better support units in upgrading the skills of their sailors, in anticipation of high-intensity naval combat.