As part of the French Government's recovery plan for the global economic crisis, STX France and DCNS have been awarded a contract to build a third projection and command vessel (BPC) for the French Navy.
Work on the third BPC was launched last week on April 16 in Saint-Nazaire by Hervé Morin, the Defence Minister, and Patrick Devedjian, the minister in charge of implementing the recovery plan.
Due to the tight economic constraints, the ship will be built solely at the STX Europe Saint-Nazaire site, as the sharing of the construction of the platform between two production sites would have generated additional costs, making it impossible to meet the government's budget.
STX France, in charge of the overall coordination of the project for the industrial part, will build the whole of the propelled platform, including fitting out the equipment onboard. Once trials are completed, BPC 3 will move to Toulon. DCNS will manufacture and integrate the combat system, which includes communications, navigation and combat management systems.
Measuring 199 metres in length, with a displacement of 21,000 tonnes and a speed of 19 knots, the BPCs are distinguished by their large carrying capacity: 450 troops, 16 heavy-lift helicopters, two hovercraft and four LCMs (landing craft). They are equipped with electric pod propulsion while their high level of automation enables the size of their crew to be reduced to 160. They also boast an on-board hospital for large-scale humanitarian missions. Their advanced communications system, 3D surveillance radar and combat management system (Senit 9) make them ideal platforms for commanding a naval task force.
The first two BPCs, 'Mistral' and 'Tonnere' were built by DCNS and Chantiers de l'Atlantique, and were delivered in 2006 and 2007.