Non-Subscriber Extract
France Boosts Amphibious Capabilities
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| 20 December 2000 |
J A C Lewis JDW Correspondent Paris
Richard Scott JDW Naval Editor London
France
has placed a FFr3.5 billion ($472 million) order for two 21,000-tonne displacement
Nouveaux Transports de Chalands de Debarquement (NTCD) multi-purpose amphibious
ships for the French Navy. State-owned warship builder Directions des Constructions
Navales (DCN) will be prime contractor for the new ships, to be built in
conjunction with commercial shipbuilder Chantiers de l'Atlantique.
According to the French Ministry of Defence (MoD), the aim of the two ships is to serve as a pre-positioned command platforms and landing docks for joint and multinational amphibious operations. They will also be capable of conducting non-combatant evacuations and humanitarian relief.
Designed to replace the existing amphibious landing ships Orage and Ouragan, the two new NTCDs will complement the amphibious vessels Foudre and Siroco that entered service in 1990 and 1998 respectively. Construction is expected to begin in 2002. The first ship, to be named Mistral, will enter service in late 2004 or early 2005, and the second, Tonnerre, will enter in late 2005 or early 2006.
The NTCDs will be fitted out as flagships for joint taskforce operations, with a full range of communications (including satellite communications) plus national and NATO datalinks. The MoD says Mistral and Tonnerre will enable far greater interoperability between French amphibious forces and those of the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
As a 'design to cost' programme, the NTCDs will be largely built to commercial (Bureau Veritas) standards. Chantiers de l'Atlantique will construct the forward section of the two vessels and accommodation modules at its St Nazaire yard. The middle (operations) and aft (payload) blocks of the ships will be constructed at DCN Brest, where final assembly and outfitting will also take place. DCN has overall prime contract management responsibilities for the design and construction of the two ships.
The through-deck NTCD design is 199m in length and 28m in beam. The flight deck will have six helicopter spots, connected to the hangar by two separate elevators (one astern, the other abaft the island superstructure). The stern dock will be compatible with the US Landing Craft Air Cushion and a new class of Landing Craft Mechanised (LCM), for which feasibility studies are in progress.
Payload capabilities comprise:
1 16 medium helicopters (NH Industries NH 90, Eurocopter Cougar or Tiger);
2 60 armoured vehicles or one squadron of Giat Industries Leclerc main battle tanks;
3 450-troop embarked military force;
4 Two LCAC-type hovercraft or four LCM landing craft.
Each NTCD vessel will have a 63-bed hospital fitted as standard. Additional medical elements can be brought aboard using elements from containerised field hospital units.
As the NTCD is likely to be under the cover of escorts the ships' self-defence suite will be limited to two short-range missile systems, two 30mm guns and four machine guns. A small action information organisation will be installed for real-time tactical picture compilation and situation assessment. One 3-D surveillance radar will be fitted.
The NTCD design will feature electric propulsion, a first for a French Navy warship. Four 5.2MW diesel generator sets will power the ship's propulsion and services.
Two 7.5MW podded propulsors will be fitted based on a second-generation DCN design intended to yield improvements in efficiency, manoeuvrability and radiated noise.
The maximum speed will be 19-20kt. Its range (at 15kt) will be 11,000n miles, with a maximum endurance of 45 days. The NTCD will also be fitted with a bow thruster to aid position keeping or manoeuvring in close confines.
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| Artist's impression of the French NTCD. It will be the navy's first vessel to feature electric propulsion. (Source: DCN) |