Page 23 - ADT MAY-JUNE 2022 Online Magazine

with readiness, and munitions stocks reportedly standards, the BRFs will replace the current tankers with increased
are low. Recently, French shipyard Chantiers capabilities and modern equipment in order to support the aviation
de l'Atlantique completed in record time the group constituted around the aircraft-carrier,” says Pierre Éric
assembly of the “Jacques Chevallier”. The last Pommellet, CEO of Naval Group.
block of the first of four new logistic support [ REPORT ]
ships (LSS) known as "BRF" for the French THIS BRF, THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF FOUR
Navy (Marine Nationale) was successfully con- SHIPS, IS A STRONG SYMBOL OF FRANCO-
nected with the rest of the hull at the shipyard
in St Nazaire. By doing so, Chantiers de l’At- ITALIAN COOPERATION. IT IS ALSO A NEW
lantique just completed an assembly process SUCCESSFUL COOPERATION BETWEEN CHANTIERS
which started on December 15, 2021 with the DE L'ATLANTIQUE AND NAVAL GROUP, WHICH
arrival of the first section. The assembly of COMBINE THEIR SKILLS IN ORDER TO OFFER THE
the Jacques Chevallier was then carried out
in record time of 50 days. DGA AND THE FRENCH NAVY THE BEST EXPERTISE
IN THE CIVIL AND MILITARY SECTORS IN THE
Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Naval Group were CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS OF HEAVY TONNAGES,”
awarded a contract for the construction of four Pierre Éric Pommellet, CEO of Naval Group
supply vessels in January 2019. The vessels are
set to be delivered between the end of 2022
and 2029. It is part of a Franco-Italian pro- The Jacques Chevallier, named after the naval engineer and father
gram led by OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe of French nuclear propulsion, will carry up to 31,000 tons at full
de Coopération en matière d’Armement – load, making it the second heaviest ship in the French Navy, after
Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation), the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. It will be based in Toulon. The
on behalf of the French defense procurement FLOTLOG programme is part of a Franco-Italian cooperation led
agency (DGA) and its Italian counterpart by Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (Organisation
NAVARM. As such, the design of the French
BRF design is based on the Italian Navy LSS
(Vulcano-class) designed by Fincantieri.
Jacques Chevallier will now undergo a series of
sea trials mid 2022. Delivery of the first vessel
is anticipated to take place in the first half of
2023.

The four vessels are being developed under
the FLOTLOG programme (Flotte Logistique)
which comes within the Logistic Support Ship
(LSS) programme. The BRFs, which will replace
the French Navy's Durance-class ships, have
a mission of logistical support of the combat
vessels of the French Navy deployed as part of
the naval air group or naval task groups. With a
capacity of 13,000 m3 , they carry fuel, ammuni-
tion, spare parts, as well as food for the vessels.
These tankers will also participate to support
missions for inter-allied operations, underlining Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement or OCCAR).
the need for interoperable equipment. As a true OCCAR is leading the programme in collaboration with the French
link in the fleet, these tankers will enable France Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) and Italian Directorate of
to continue to have an ocean-going navy, capa- Naval Armaments (NAVARM).
ble of conducting long-term operations far from
the national territory and thus maintaining its
strategic autonomy. Improved Preparedness
Meanwhile, the French Fleet Support Service (SSF) is looking at
This new series of the logistics fleet is equipped solutions to increase the preparedness of the French Navy in col-
with self-defence capacities. The combat laboration with ECOsubsea and prime contractor Naval Group.
system of the four ships, whose architecture is The UK´s Royal Navy has already used ECOsubsea´s services in
based on Naval Group’s Combat Management Southampton, Plymouth and Portsmouth through a testing period in
System, ensures the protection against close 2021 with encouraging results. ECOsubsea´s solutions have been
threats and the fight against asymmetric sur- introduced to the French Navy, based on the positive results arising
face and air threats. “In line with international from the UK. The French Navy experimented the ECOsubsea’s

ASIAN DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY May/June 2022 | 23