Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide

Class overview
Builders: Socarenam
Operators:  Marine Nationale
Preceded by: CDIC
Completed: 4
General characteristics
Type:Roll-on/roll-off catamaran landing craft
Displacement:285 tons (light)
Length:30 m (98 ft 5 in)
Beam:12.8 m (42 ft 0 in)
Draft:2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) (fully catamaran mode)
0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) (fully load lighter mode)
Propulsion:Four MTU Friedrichshafen 12V2000 M92 Diesel engines each producing 1220 kW
Four Wärtsilä Pump-jets
Speed:20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) (economical)
30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (warranted)
Range:1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) (laden)
Complement:8
Notes:Cargo capacity:

The Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide (EDA-R) is a class of Roll-on/Roll-off catamaran landing craft (L-CAT) ordered by the French Navy. They transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel of the assault elements from Mistral class amphibious assault ships to shore and across the beach.

Design and development

Concept design of the EDA-R began in 2000 at Constructions industrielles de la Méditerranée (CNIM) then was abandoned in 2003 and relaunched in 2008 with the full-scale Landing Catamaran (L-Cat). During the development stage, one prototype was built by Gamelin Shipyard and tested during an autonomous transfer from Saint-Malo to the Military port of Toulon. On 14 October 2008, the prototype of the L-Cat beached on the shores of Toulon.[1] On March 2010, it offloads one 54-ton Leclerc main battle tank at Toulon.[2]

According to CNIM the craft delivers the performance of an aircushion landing craft but at the cost of a conventional landing craft.[3] Four units have been purchased and were presented to officials of the Navy in January 2011.[4]

CNIM is proposing a variant of the L-CAT to fulfill the U.S. Army's requirement for a replacement for the their aging LCM-8 "Mike boats."[5]

Operators

 France
 Russia

Specifications (EDA-R)

Source: Naval-Technology Fact File[8]

References

  1. Jean-Louis Venne (director) (14 October 2008). Landing Catamaran (L-Cat) démonstration à Toulon (Videotape) (in French). Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  2. Jean-Louis Venne (7 April 2010). "Le L-CAT débarque pour la première fois un char Leclerc". Mer et Marine. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  3. Richard Scott (21 February 2007). "Novel L-Cat bridges the gap". Jane's Information Group. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  4. Jean-Louis Venne (20 January 2011). "Le major général de la marine se fait présenter le L-Cat". Le portail des sous-marins. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  5. CNIM is teaming with Fincantieri Marine Group to propose its L-CAT® landing craft to the US Military - Navyrecognition.com, 14 April 2015
  6. Bruno Daffix (30 November 2012). "CNIM livre le quatrième EDAR à la Marine nationale" (in French). Mer et Marine. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  7. "BPC russes : La batellerie comprend aussi des EDAR…" (in French). Mer et Marine. 2 February 2015.
  8. "CNIM - Landing Craft and Multipurpose Patrol Craft". naval-technology.org. Retrieved 8 February 2010.

External links

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