Patrouilleur Outre-mer
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The Patrouilleurs Outre-mer (POM), or ''Félix Éboué'' class, are a type of six high-sea
patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...
s of 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 are to be based at
Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and ...
,
Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...
and
La Réunion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
, as replacement for the s which are nearing the end of their career. The POM are far larger, with a 1,300-ton displacement fully loaded, and a wider range or capabilities. They are to be commissioned with the Navy from early 2023 into 2025.


History


Conception

Work conducted in the framework of the BATSIMAR programme and the 2017 Strategic Study for National Defence and Security determined that protecting French overseas regions required capabilities of opposing terrorist action and threats of encroachment. They defined two families of patrol vessels: new generation high sea
patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...
s (''patrouilleurs de haute mer de nouvelle génération,'' PHM-NG), or Oceanic Patrol Vessel; and Overseas Patrol Vessels (''Patrouilleurs Outre-mer'', POM). The POM are designed to protect territories and conduct coast guard duties, without significant offensive armament. The
Direction générale de l'Armement The Direction générale de l’armement (DGA; English: Directorate General of Armaments), is the French Government Defence procurement and technology agency responsible for project management, development and purchase of weapon systems for the Fr ...
(DGA) issued an
invitation to tender An invitation to tender (ITT, otherwise known as a call for bids or a request for tenders) is a formal, structured procedure for generating competing offers from different potential suppliers or contractors looking to obtain an award of business ...
for construction in August 2018.


Order

On 3 November 2019, during the Assises de l'économie de la mer, President Emmanuel Macron announced that the Ministry of Armed Forces had assigned the contract for building the six POM to
Socarenam Socarenam (french: SOCARENAM, acronym: ''Société Calaisienne de Réparation Navale et Mécanique'') is a French employee-owned shipbuilding company that operates shipyards in multiple ports in northern and western of the country. History Soc ...
, of
Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
. Socarenam had previously won the tender for building the Patrouilleurs Antilles-Guyane (PAG) of the type. DGA issued the official order to Socarenam on 24 December 2019. The order for design, building and maintenance was published on 12 February 2020. It was assigned jointly to Socarenam and CNN-MCO, of
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 ...
, for a total of 223,939,897 
Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s excluding VAT.


Construction

The POM will be named in honour of
Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
fighters from the overseas regions where the ships are to be based. The ceremony for the beginning of the construction of the first ship, ''Auguste Bénébig'', took place on 8 October 2020 during a visit of Armed Forces Minister
Florence Parly Florence Parly (born 8 May 1963) is a French politician who served as Minister of the Armed Forces under President Emmanuel Macron from 2017 to 2022. A former member of the Socialist Party (PS), she previously served as Secretary of State for t ...
at the Socarenam shipyard in
Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
. The ship was launched on 15 October 2021 at Saint-Malo, and towed to Boulogne-sur-Mer where she arrived on 18 October for her fitting out. She started
trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...
on 26 July 2022, partly from the naval base in Brest. The commissioning is expected for early 2023 after arrival in
Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and ...
.


Characteristics

The ''Félix Éboué''-class vessels displace 1,300 tons fully loaded., with a length of , a beam of , and draught of . The crew is made up of 30 sailors, but they can accommodate 29 passengers and support combat divers. They are designed to operate in strong heat and high hygrometry during thirty days, with their own craning capabilities. They have two swift inflatable boats and an Airbus Aliaca
unmanned aircraft system An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...
(UAS) drone. The drone, capable of up to three-hour missions over a range, is launched by catapult and recovered automatically via a net. Eleven Aliaca UAS systems are being delivered to the French Navy by 2023 and thirteen more by 2025. The ships are fitted with a Lyncea combat system made by Nexeya. The same system has been installed on and patrol vessels since 2009. Surveillance radars are made by Hensoldt. Armament comprises a Nexter Narwhal autogun at the bow, and four mounts for and machine guns.


Ships in class

Six patrol vessels are planned for the French Navy. The first unit is to transit to her base at Nouméa in New Caledonia, arriving in January 2023. Another vessel is to be based at Nouméa from 2024. Two further ships will be based at La Réunion, and two more at Tahiti. The ships will replace the P400-class patrol boats, as well as and ''Arago.''


See also

*
List of active French Navy ships This is a list of active French Navy ships. The French Navy consists of nearly 100 vessels of the '' Force d'action navale'' (Naval action force) and the 9 submarines of the '' Forces sous-marines'' (Submarine force). Primary assets include 1 nu ...


Citations


External links

* . * . * . {{French Navy navbox Patrol boat classes Patrol vessels of the French Navy