The French Navy frigate Cassard os om Grand Harnbour on a three-day visit as part of a Mediterranean deployment.
The frigate, which entered service in 1988, has anti-aircraft escort duties as its main role but also operates in anti-submarine warfare and maritime interdiction roles.
It is fitted with the Senit Combat data system, two four-cell missile launchers for Exocet MM40 missiles, surface-to-air missiles, two torpedo launchers and a Eurocopter Panther helicopter that is equipped with an arsenal of helicopter-launched torpedoes. The helicopter is also used for search and rescue and humanitarian missions.
Alongside the aircraft carriers Clémenceau, Foch and Charles de Gaulle the Cassard has participated in deployments to the Adriatic, Kosovo, the Arabian Golf and off Afghanistan.