On 29 April, the primary of the 4 power replenishment vessels (BRF – Bâtiments Ravitailleurs de Pressure in French) of the FLOTLOG program was launched in Saint-Nazaire. The FlotLog program is a part of a Franco-Italian cooperation led by OCCAR on behalf of the French Defence Procurement Company (DGA) and its Italian counterpart NAVARM, throughout the Logistic Assist Ship (LSS) program. The Bâtiment Ravitailleur de Forces (BRF) Jacques Chevallier is the primary of a collection of 4 ships supposed for the French Navy. The contract was awarded in January 2019 to Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Naval Group. The 4 vessels might be delivered successively till 2029. The BRF Jacques Chevallier was launched at the moment in Saint-Nazaire. The ceremony came about within the presence of Laurent Castaing, Normal Supervisor of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Pierre Éric Pommellet, CEO of Naval Group, Matteo Bisceglia, Director of OCCAR, François Pintart, Director of Operations of DGA and Admiral Xavier Baudouard, Commander of the French Naval Motion Pressure. The primary sea trials will begin within the second half of 2022, with supply of the primary unit scheduled for the primary half of 2023.
“Naval Group is proud to be as soon as once more current alongside Chantiers de l’Atlantique on this European program. This BRF, the primary of a collection of 4 ships, is a powerful image of Franco-Italian cooperation. It is usually a brand new profitable cooperation between Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Naval Group, which mix their abilities so as to supply the DGA and the French Navy the most effective experience within the civil and army sectors within the building of ships of heavy tonnages”, added Pierre Éric Pommellet, CEO of Naval Group.
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Laurent Castaing, Normal Supervisor, Chantiers de l’Atlantique mentioned: “Our industrial services enabled us to assemble the 20 blocks of the BRF Jacques Chevallier’s hull in a document time of fifty days. This demonstrates that our experience as a producer of civilian ships can vastly profit the army by way of time, value and high quality management.
The design and building of the 4 ships of the FlotLog program is the results of a profitable industrial cooperation between Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Naval Group, pushed by OCCAR, in shut collaboration with the DGA and the French Navy. The BRFs, which can substitute the French Navy’s Durance-class ships, have a mission of logistical help of the fight vessels of the French Navy deployed as a part of the naval air group or naval job teams. With a capability of 13,000 m3 , they carry gas, ammunition, spare components, in addition to meals for the vessels. These tankers can even take part to help missions for inter-allied operations, underlining the necessity for interoperable tools. As a real hyperlink within the fleet, these tankers will allow France to proceed to have an ocean-going navy, able to conducting longterm operations removed from the nationwide territory and thus sustaining its strategic autonomy.
Chantiers de l’Atlantique carries out the worldwide design and the development of the 4 ships, and ensures the mixing and the implementation of the embedded techniques. Naval Group is chargeable for the design, improvement and integration of the fight system and the techniques destined to obtain plane and to embark ammunition. This new collection of the logistics fleet is supplied with self-defence capacities. The fight system of the 4 ships, whose structure is predicated on Naval Group’s Fight Administration System, ensures the safety in opposition to shut threats and the struggle in opposition to uneven floor and air threats. In step with worldwide requirements, the BRFs will substitute the present tankers with elevated capabilities and fashionable tools so as to help the aviation group constituted across the aircraft-carrier. The Jacques Chevallier, named after the naval engineer and father of French nuclear propulsion, will carry as much as 31,000 tons at full load, making it the second heaviest ship within the French Navy, after the plane provider Charles de Gaulle. It will likely be primarily based in Toulon.
