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New French Amphibious Landing Craft EDA-R World Naval Ships Forums Archive

New French Amphibious Landing Craft EDA-R

Posts 1 to 11

The French DGA (Directorate General for Armaments) took delivery of the first new Amphibious Landing Craft (EDA-R) for the Navy on November 24th. Based on the earlier L-CAT Landing Catamaran, it is designed for landing troops and military vehicles from ships positioned "beyond 30 nautical miles (55kms) from the shore The 30 metre long and 12 metre wide vessel has a payload of 80 tons and a speed of 18 knots fully loaded (5 times the existing landing craft in service) The French Navy has ordered four such vessels,the others will be delivered by mid-2012. derek-L

Derek: I had an opportunity to look at one of these very large landing craft last evening in the well deck of FS Mistral which is visiting Halifax. It is a aluminum hulled vessel that shares the deck with two much smaller LCM landing craft. The capacity of the EDA-R is likely similar to that of the US LCAC. The Mistral is on a midshipmen training cruise during which she will embark a reinforced company from 1st Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, Canadian Army (the famous Van Doos) which will conduct landing operations in the Gaspe area of the Province of Quebec. The landing will include armoured and soft skinned vehicles. There is no doubt that Mistral is a very flexible and capable ship and she embarks a small air wing of French naval and army helicopters on this trip. Brian

EDA-R landing craft
Attachments :

[QUOTE=Brian Wentzell;10117691]Derek: I had an opportunity to look at one of these very large landing craft last evening in the well deck of FS Mistral which is visiting Halifax. It is a aluminum hulled vessel that shares the deck with two much smaller LCM landing craft. [B]The capacity of the EDA-R is likely similar to that of the US LCAC. [/B] Brian[/QUOTE] Comparison: [B]EDA-R[/B] / LCAC Displacement (tonnes) [B]285[/B] / 185 Length (feet) [B]98[/B] / 87 Speed (loaded)(kts) [B]20[/B] / 40 Range (NM) [B]1000@15kts (loaded)[/B] / 300@40 kts (loaded) Capacity (tonnes) [B] 80[/B] / 60

Tim: The EDA-R is actually larger than I thought. The Mistral is a very interesting ship. I had a chance to speak with the Captain and the design intent and inherent flexibility contained in the ship makes it a very capable vessel. Senior Canadian naval officers in attendance thought the vessel to be very interesting but perhaps a bit large for Canadian needs. Mistral is about half the size of the USN LHD's so our needs seem to be an order smaller. I think the Danish Absalon might be a better size but we would need a North Americanized version for interoperability reasons. Brian

[QUOTE=Brian Wentzell;10117834]Tim: The EDA-R is actually larger than I thought. The Mistral is a very interesting ship. I had a chance to speak with the Captain and the design intent and inherent flexibility contained in the ship makes it a very capable vessel. Senior Canadian naval officers in attendance thought the vessel to be very interesting but [B]perhaps a bit large for Canadian needs[/B]. Mistral is about half the size of the USN LHD's so our needs seem to be an order smaller. I think the Danish Absalon might be a better size but we would need a North Americanized version for interoperability reasons. Brian[/QUOTE] What "[B]needs[/B]" Brian? She is designed for a role which doesn't even exist within our navy - we don't do amphibious assault! Lord knows we can't even afford to replace the ships which we need to discharge our current responsibilities, let alone take on another totally different role.

Tim: Amphibious assault is but one of Mistral's roles. Humanitarian assistance, non-combatant evacuation, hospital services, base ship duties for military forces deployed ashore, and training ship for midshipmen/officer cadets are other roles she was designed for and capable of undertaking. These are functions Canadian ships have provided in the past. Mistral is conducting landing exercises this week with embarked Canadian Army and RCAF Griffon helicopters in the lower St Lawrence River area. It seems to me that there is a demonstrated Canadian need. Brian

[QUOTE=Brian Wentzell;10117933]Tim: Amphibious assault is but one of Mistral's roles. Humanitarian assistance, non-combatant evacuation, hospital services, base ship duties for military forces deployed ashore, and training ship for midshipmen/officer cadets are other roles she was designed for and capable of undertaking. These are functions Canadian ships have provided in the past. Mistral is conducting landing exercises this week with embarked Canadian Army and RCAF Griffon helicopters in the lower St Lawrence River area. It seems to me that there is a demonstrated Canadian need. Brian[/QUOTE] I understand that she is a multi-role ship, but as you so correctly state, all the roles other than the straight amphibious one, have in the past, and continue to be, performed by other types of Canadian navy ships. We don't have the luxury of acquiring another platform ... regardless of any perceived "Canadian need." As I stated before, we can't even afford to acquire replacements for what we have now .. so do we sacrifice one of the new AORs, two or three of the mythical Arctic patrol ships or perhaps one of the new surface combatants to acquire a Mistral-type ship? The fiscal cupboard is bare and unless the government suddenly produces a new White Paper which changes the role of the navy, we can't be buying new types of ships on a whim.

Tim: With the current re-ordering of world events in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Western Pacific, I suggest the post Cold War period has ended and we are entering a new period of serious world political and religious instability that will create serious challenges to we westerners. The Canadian government and allied governments will have to fund new defence programs and capabilities. For Canada, the Arctic Ocean and multipurpose capabilities will be important. The JSS and A/OPS provide part of the answer but a couple of flexible support ships as well as new general purpose frigates will be required. I commend the Canadian Army leadership in taking the opportunity to explore amphibious operations with the French Navy. Regards, Brian

[QUOTE=Brian Wentzell;10118011]Tim: With the current re-ordering of world events in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Western Pacific, I suggest the post Cold War period has ended and we are entering a new period of serious world political and religious instability that will create serious challenges to we westerners. The Canadian government and allied governments will have to fund new defence programs and capabilities. For Canada, the Arctic Ocean and multipurpose capabilities will be important. The JSS and A/OPS provide part of the answer but a couple of flexible support ships as well as new general purpose frigates will be required. I commend the Canadian Army leadership in taking the opportunity to explore amphibious operations with the French Navy. Regards, Brian[/QUOTE] Brian: I agree 110% with your first sentence ... however, as I keep harping on, where is the money supposed to come from? With a government which would rather restore our colonial-style uniforms than realistically fund equipment replacement programmes, and a public which doesn't care about defence matters, I would bet my pension on the fact that any "new" types of ships will only come at the expense of existing replacement programmes. Anyway - suggest we have drifted many miles off topic on this thread - my most sincere apologies to Derek and the Moderators! I shall say no more!!!

Tim: I think the money issue will not be an easy one to overcome with this Canadian government. The return to old rank insignia will cost at least 4,500,000 Canadian dollars but this money could have funded about half the cost of new rifles for the Canadian Rangers to replace the Lee-Enfield .303 rifles. I am not returning to pips and crowns-my old uniforms will continue to mount the gold braid. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if there are reports on the functioning of the EDA-R from the Royal Twenty Second Regiment. Brian

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