The ''Chalands de débarquement d'infanterie et de chars'' (CDIC) were two

tank landing ships A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine ...

that operated in the

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 ...

. They were designed to operate from landing platform dock ships such as the , or for coastal support. The two ships of the class, and , entered service in 1988 and 1989 respectively and were initially named ''CDIC 9061'' and ''CDIC 9062'' before receiving their new names in 1997. In 2011 ''Rapière'' was among a package of four ships sold to the Chilean Navy and renamed ''Canave''.

Design and description

The CDIC

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

were improved versions of the '' Engin de débarquement d'infanterie et de chars'' (EDIC) vessels that had been constructed from the 1950s to the 1980s. They were designed to work with the ships of the

and take infantry and vehicles from the landing platforms to the shore. The landing craft can also be used for coastal transport., The CDIC vessels have a standard displacement of and at full load. They are long with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a maximum draught of . The two landing craft are powered by two SACM Uni Diesel UD 30 V12 M1

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s driving two shafts rated at . The CDIC have a maximum speed of and a range of at . The two ships have capacity for of stores and room for 230 personnel. They have a complement of 18 including one officer. They mount two

20 mm modèle F2 gun The 20 mm modèle F2 gun is a naval defence weapon used by the French Navy. It was developed from the GIAT M693, itself derived from Hispano-Suiza HS.820. It fires the same 20×139 mm round. History The need for a newer 20 mm def ...

s and two machine guns. The wheelhouse can be lowered so that the vessels can dock more easily.

Ships in class

Construction and career

Two CDIC ships were ordered for construction by SFCN at

Villeneuve-la-Garenne Villeneuve-la-Garenne () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the Île-de-France region. History The commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne was created on 9 ...

, France, the same site as the last two EDIC vessels had been constructed. There had been more planned orders but delays with the ''Foudre'' class prevented any of them being placed. Initially named ''CDIC 9061'' and ''CDIC 9062'', the two landing craft were commissioned on 28 July 1988 and 2 March 1989. They were given their new names of ''Rapière'' and ''Halleberde'' on 21 July 1997. On 23 December 2011 ''Rapière'' was sold along with and the ''

chaland de transport de matériel The ''Chaland de transport de matériel'' (CTM) is a French landing craft class, also operated by the navies of Chile, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Senegal. The design is based on the American LCM-8-class landing craft and were initially or ...

'' ''CTM 19'' and ''CTM 24'' to the Chilean Navy. ''Rapière'' was renamed ''Canave'' in Chilean service. Beginning in 2013, ''Halleberde'' was used to supply the Île du Levant, an island in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

off

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 ...

. On 4 September 2014, ''Halleberde'' was taken out of service and placed in a state of ready

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

with the Amphibious Flotilla.

Citations

References

* *

External links

Photography gallery
French Ministry of Defence. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaland Amphibious warfare vessel classes Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of France Amphibious warfare vessels of France Ship classes of the French Navy