The bâtiments ravitailleurs de forces, or BRF, are a class of future fleet tankers that are to replace the units in

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

service. Until January 2019, the programme was known as ''Flotte logistique'' (abbreviated FLOTLOG in military parlance). First ship of the class completed the first stage of her sea trials in January 2023 and was formally delivered to the French Navy in March to continue her sea trials.

History

Replacement for the type has been considered by the

since 2009, with the military procurement law for years 2009–2014. At the time, the concept was knows as "''flotte logistique''" ("logistical fleet", or FLOTLOG). The succession was envisioned to take place between 2017 and 2020. The replacement was motivated both by the age of the ''Durance'' hulls, and by their non-conformity with current safety standards, notably the lack of a double hull. From 2010,

Naval Group Naval Group is a major French industrial group specialized in naval defense design, development and construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards initiated in 1631 by Cardinal Richelieu and to the Direc ...

(the still named DCNS) proposed a project named BRAVE. This project was carried over to the following procurement law (2014 to 2019), delaying the order of the first unit to 2019. However, after STX France was purchased by

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

, the project by Naval Group was abandoned and it was decided to base the new concept on the Italian fleet tanker , then being built by Fincantieri for the Italian Navy. The FLOTLOG programme was further confirmed in the new military procurement law. On 30 January 2019,

OCCAR The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (French: ''Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'ARmement''; OCCAR) is a European intergovernmental organisation that facilitates and manages collaborative armament programmes throug ...

ordered four units from Chantiers de l'Atlantique and Naval Group for the French Navy. It is anticipated that the first two ships of the class, plus the fourth (''Gustave Zédé''), will be based in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

while the third ship of the class (''Émile Bertin'') will be based at

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

Construction

The four units of the class are to be constructed in Saint-Nazaire, at Chantiers de l'Atlantique. Building of the first ship was initially planned for early 2020 for delivery in 2022, with the three further ships being delivered from 2013 through 2029. In 2021, it was indicated that delivery of the first ship had slipped to 2023. The steel cutting ceremony for the first ship took place on 18 May 2020. The ship was launched in April 2022 and sea trials began on 20 December 2022. She was formally delivered to the French Navy on 3 March 2023 to continue her sea trials. On 29 March, she carried out her first underway replenishment for the aircraft carrier , having refueled the air defence frigate ''Chevalier Paul'' a few days earlier. These ships are among the largest units of the French Navy, second only to the ''Charles de Gaulle''.

Dimensions

* Length : * Beam : * Draught : * Displacement : empty, full load * Crew : 130 crew, with up to 60 passengers * Diesel-electric propulsion * Capacity : of fuel Four ships are scheduled to be commissioned in the French Navy as replacement for the ''Durance''-class tankers. On 18 May 2020, the navy published the names intended for the ships, which honour preeminent French naval engineers: Jacques Chevallier, Jacques Stosskopf,

Louis-Émile Bertin Louis-Émile Bertin (23 March 1840 – 22 October 1924) was a French naval engineer, one of the foremost of his time, and a proponent of the " Jeune École" philosophy of using light, but powerfully armed warships instead of large battleships. ...

and

Gustave Zédé Gustave Zédé was a French naval engineer and pioneering designer of submarines. Early life He was born in Paris in February 1825. After studying at the École Polytechnique in November 1843 he qualified in 1845 as a Marine engineer and went t ...

. Defensive weapons will include the Simbad-RC system firing Mistral Mk3 surface-to-air missiles (for at least the first ship in the series) and two Thales/Nexter 40 mm RAPIDFire guns. The first guns of the type were installed on ''Jacques Chevallier'' in February 2023. In March it was confirmed that two Simbad-RC short-range SAM/SSM systems had been installed on the ship, on a platform located behind the bridge. This was said to represent the first deployment of the Simbad-RC system variant with the French Navy.

Ships of the class

Citations

External links