Naval defence firm DCNS has deployed QinetiQ’s Paramarine ship and submersible design software to develop its French and international submarine projects.
The software will be used for submarine stability and early stage design on projects, including the development of the Barracuda, the latest generation of French nuclear submarines, and the Scorpène diesel-electric attack-class submarines.
A DCNS stability department manager said that the company has been using Paramarine for early stage design and stability assessments for over ten years, delivering an extensive range of functionality, which is continually being enhanced and developed on a wide range of national and international projects.
"Going forward we will also be using Paramarine at early design stage to systematically check the viability of future submarine concepts, such as the SMX26 [which was] presented during the last Euronaval exhibition," the manager said.
The latest V8 version of the software introduces probabilistic damage modelling and assessment, in addition to improvements in its emergency response, reporting, and stability assessment capabilities.
Paramarine is claimed to be the only integrated computer-aided design and engineering tool for commercial ship, warship and submarine design.
The software has a set of tools that deal with concept design, performance prediction, strength and structures, radar cross section, powering, manoeuvring, endurance, seakeeping, vulnerability and preliminary costing and design for production.
The UK’s Royal Navy also uses Paramarine to develop its ships and submarines.
Image: QinetiQ’s Paramarine ship and submersible design software assists in the development of submarine projects. Photo: courtesy of QinetiQ.
