Naval Group begins construction of French Navy’s Next-Gen Replenishment Tanker

The first steel plate of the hull of the first of the four Jacques Chevallier-class replenishment vessels of the French Navy has been cut on 18th May during a ceremony held in the machining workshop of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Naval Group has announced. This ceremony marked symbolically the start of the construction of the first vessel of the FLOTLOG program.

The order for the construction of the four ships was notified in January 2019 to the temporary association of companies formed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Naval Group. Deliveries are scheduled from end 2022 to 2029. This order for the French Navy is part of a Franco-Italian program led by OCCAR, on behalf of DGA, the French Defence Procurement Agency, and its Italian counterpart NAVARM.

The tanker with a capacity of 13 000 m3 has a mission of logistical support of the combat vessels of the French Navy. They carry fuel, ammunition, spare parts, as well as food for the vessels.

Compliant with international standards, their characteristics are adapted to their specific missions of support to the aviation group constituted around the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the flagship of the naval air force group.

Chantiers de l’Atlantique carries out the global design and the construction of the four ships and ensures the integration and the implementation of the embedded systems.

“We are at the very start of a new industrial story, which will feature once again our know-how in design, building and integration of cutting edge technologies”, states Laurent Castaing, General Manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique. “This is also an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the complementarity of our businesses with those of our partner Naval Group”.

Naval Group is responsible for the design, development and integration of the military systems of the platform. The combat system of the four ships, whose architecture is based on the Polaris Combat Management System of Naval Group, ensures the protection against close threats and the fight against asymmetric threats.

“Naval Group is proud to stand once again by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in the frame of this European program. This cooperation brings together the best civilian and naval expertise and will benefit our customers both on economic and operational aspects”, highlights Pierre-Eric Pommelet, Naval Group CEO.

Specifications :

• Full loaded displacement: 31 000 tonnes
• Overall length: 194 m
• Overall width: 27.60 m
• Crew capacity: 190 people, including 130 crew members and 60 passengers
• Total deadweight: 14, 870 tonnes
• Freight volume: 13,000 m3
• Total installed capacity: 24 MW