French Navy set to test novel landing craft design

The French Navy is set to begin an evaluation of a novel variable-draught landing craft known as the L-Cat, to assess its suitability as a potential future expeditionary watercraft.

Constructions Industrielles de la Méditerranée (CNIM) has funded the construction of the full-scale L-Cat demonstrator by the Gemelin shipyard in La Rochelle on France's Atlantic coast. The design is intended to meet emergent operational requirements for a fast ship-to-shore connector, combining the attributes of a deep-draught vessel and a landing craft to offer high speed, excellent manoeuvrability and increased payload.

The L-Cat concept achieves this by offering the flexibility to raise or lower a pontoon deck so as to enable operation in any one of three modes. In transit, the L-Cat is a catamaran - the pontoon deck is raised between the two hulls; in beaching mode the pontoon is lowered; and in dock mode the platform is totally or partially flooded.

CNIM argues that while the L-Cat concept is itself innovative, the underpinning technologies are all low-risk: the hull adopts standard naval architecture ratios and aluminium alloy structures; the propulsion system uses standard diesel engines and waterjets; and the hydraulic lifting rams are based on proven technology.

Image: CNIM is completing technical trials on the L-Cat in anticipation of testing by the French Navy by the end of 2008. During trials the ship will interface with the stern dock of both Foudre-class and Mistral-class amphibious ships and include embarkations of representative vehicle payloads (CNIM) 199 of 444 words