The ''Chaland de transport de matériel'' (CTM) is a French

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. ...

class, also operated by the navies of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

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Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. The design is based on the American

LCM-8 The LCM-8 ("Mike Boat") is a river boat and mechanized landing craft used by the United States Navy and Army during the Vietnam War and subsequent operations. They are currently used by governments and private organizations throughout the world. ...

-class landing craft and were initially ordered to support France's

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in the Pacific. Constructed in two batches, the first batch of 16 vessels have been removed from French service with some transferred to other navies, the others being discarded. The second batch consisting of 17 vessels is split, with some being transferred to other nations and some remaining in service with 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 ...

. The remaining vessels in French service are being replaced with a new landing craft design. As of January 2023, it was reported that only five of the landing craft remained in French Navy service.

Description

The CTMs are

that are derived from the American

class. They measure long with a beam of and a draught of . Each ship has a

bow ramp A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveabl ...

. They have a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

between and fully loaded displacement of . The vessels are propelled by two propellers that were initially driven by two Poyaud 520 V8

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-cal ...

s capable of creating . They were later exchanged for Poyaud-

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18V8M1 diesels creating . This gave the CTMs a maximum speed of . The ships carry of fuel and have a range of at . The landing craft have capacity for of cargo and room for 200 personnel. They are equipped with a small navigational

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

and two machine guns. The machine guns are often not mounted. The vessels had an initial complement of 6, declining to 4.

Construction and career

The CTMs were constructed in two batches. The first three ships of the first batch were ordered on 18 July 1964. Further orders were placed in 1965 and 1966. The first batch consisting of ''CTM 1'' to ''CTM 16'', was constructed in the 1960s to support

in the Pacific. A second series was ordered in 1982 to replace the older, worn out units. Six units were operated by the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

, but were returned to the navy in 2010. Several vessels have since been transferred to navies around the world, including

and

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while others have been cannibalised for spare parts.

Ships in class

Replacement

A new landing craft was developed by STX France and DCNS, called the CTM NG, with the CTM referring to this class and the NG meaning "Nouvelle Génération". These vessels represent an improved design over the ''Chaland de transport de matériel''. The remaining CTMs are being gradually replaced from 2021 by fourteen new ''Engins de débarquement amphibie standard'' (standard amphibious landing craft) – EDA-S – built by SOCARENAM over a period of ten years. With a slightly larger size, they will be deployed from the and overseas bases. French forces deployed in overseas bases in

Mayotte Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loca ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

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and

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are to receive one vessel each in order to support local operations. Two vessels are also planned to be deployed for operations around

. The vessels have a payload capacity of 65 to 80 tonnes at a maximum speed of (at full load). The first two EDA-S vessels (''Arbalète'' and ''Arquebuse'') were delivered to the navy in November 2021 and entered service in July 2022. The next four in the program are intended for the naval base at

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and are to start delivery in mid-2023. Deliveries will continue up to 2025.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaland de transport de materiel Landing craft Amphibious warfare vessels of the French Navy Ship classes of the French Navy