A third BPC, FS Dixmude, joins the French fleet »

By Jean-Michel Guhl
15 January 2012

FS Dixmude (L-9015) the third BPC (LHD) commissioned by the French Navy on 14 January 2012 in Toulon. Built by DCNS and STX-France in Saint Nazaire, the vessel has been delivered three months in advance on the earlier planning schedule. It joins FS Mistral (L-9013) and Tonnerre (L-9014) in French naval service, replacing the TCD (LPD) FS Foudre (L-9011) sold to Chile at the end of last year. © Marine Nationale

Toulon, 14 January 2012 — Declared fit, on 3 January 2012, by the French Procurement Agency (DGA), the third Mistral-class BPC (LHA) for the French Navy has been taken officially on charge in Toulon three months ahead on its initial contractual schedule. This industrial success is the result of a close coperation between the two co-contractors DCNS and STX France naval shipyards. Process design, production and validation of the new vessel were performed in full collaboration with the teams of DGA and those of the French Navy. The French Minister of Defence, Gérard Longuet, welcomed the new ship during his visit on board FS Dixmude (L-9015) on 14 January 2012 in Toulon, thus marking in the same time the commissioning of the new vessel which is replacing in French naval service FS Foudre (L-9011), a 21-year old LHD handed over to the Chilean Navy on 23 December 2011 where it will soldier on as LSHD Sargento Aldea.

DGA ordered BPC Dixmude in April 2009 as part of an economic stimulus package proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. While STX France assembled the main platform in Saint-Nazaire, DCNS installed the ship's complete combat system which includes wide communications, navigation and combat management suites. These core systems are vital to the vessel's operational missions and represent around one-quarter of the ship's total value.

BPC Dixmude follows in service the earlier BPC Mistral (L-9013) and BPC Tonnerre (L-9014), the Marine Nationale's first two Mistral-class force projection & command vessels, that were built by DCNS (and the then-Chantiers de l'Atlantique) and delivered to the French Navy in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Third vessel of the Mistral-class, the BPC (Bâtiment de Projection et de Commandement) Dixmude has benefited largely from the return of experience gained during the construction of the two first units and subsequent combat operations — the FOC was commissioned by the Marine Nationale on 15 December 2006. Some useful additions and improvements are brought to the type starting with FS Dixmude, including an additional bow side thruster behind the first one (Mistral and Tonnerre have only one), a refined glass observation forward top-deck (with different looking bevel-shaped glass panels) and a tenth integrated digital control console mainly dedicated to the ship's air defence. These modifications did not involve any modifications to the vessel's structure.

		French Minister of Defence, Gérard Longuet, and Admiral Bernard Rogel, chief of staff of the French Navy (behind, at right), are seen in Toulon on 14 January 2012 during the commisioning ceremony of FS Dixmude (L-9015). In the center and far behind is Capitaine de Vaisseau Guillaume Goutay, the first captain of FS Dixmude, a former Lynx helicopter pilot. © J.-M. Guhl

Two more Mistral-class BPCs will now be built for the Russian Navy (VMF) after DCNS signed last June a contract with the Russian defence export agency Rosoboronexport for the supply of two Mistral/BPC-type vessels and associated services including initial logistics, training, and technology transfers. The first ship will be delivered to Russia in 2014, just three years after the contract go-ahead. The second will be delivered in 2015. This deal with Russia represented the first export success for the Mistral/BPC design which is said to be now igetting close interest from Malaysia.

On the international market, this type of vessel is known as a landing helicopter dock or LHD. In France, the BPCs are the largest ships in service after the nuclear aircraft-carrier Charles-de-Gaulle (R-91).

With a length of 199 metres, a displacement of 21,500 tonnes and a speed of 19 knots, the BPCs offer a global projection capability for troops and materiel including 450 soldiers and 16 heavy helicopters plus one of several options: two hovercraft, two new-generation EDA-R high-speed landing craft, four LCM-type landing craft or one-third of a mechanised regiment complete with armoured vehicles (representing a payload of 1,000 tonnes). The BPCs also offer ample capacity as hospital ships or for large-scale humanitarian missions. The design features electric propulsion using azimuth pods and high-level automation compatible with a complement of just 170. A high-performance communications suite, a 3D surveillance radar and a Senit 9 combat management system (CMS) make the type ideal as a naval force command vessel.

		The French Navy aircraft-carrier Dixmude in the mid 1950s. A former U.S. and British ship (HMS Biter), FS Dixmude sailed under French naval service from 1945 to 1964, at what time the vessel was returned to the U.S. Navy who sunked her as a target ship off the coast of Virginia on 10 June 1966. FS Dixmude was historically the second aircraft-carrier commissioned by the French Navy after the pre-war FS Béarn. © ARDHAN

Source: DCNS

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