According to a tweet published by the spokesman of the French Ministry of Armed Forces on December 24, 2021, Chantiers de l'Atlantique laid the keel of the first French logistic support ship (BRF) Jacques Chevallier in St-Nazaire.
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Keel laying of first Logistic Support Ship Jacques Chevallier (Picture source: Twitter account of spokesman of French Ministry of Armed Forces)
The FLOTLOG program consists in the construction of four Logistic Support Ships (LSS), destined to the French Navy, by the temporary consortium between Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Naval Group under the Italian-French LSS Program led by OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) on behalf of DGA, the French Armament General Directorate, and its Italian counterpart, NAVARM.
The LSS unit combines features of transportation and transfer to other vessels of both liquid (diesel fuel, jet fuel, fresh water) and solid loads (emergency spare parts, food, and ammunitions). The first vessel, “Vulcano”, has been delivered by Fincantieri to the Italian Navy at the beginning of 2021.
The bâtiments ravitailleurs de forces, or BRF, are a class of future fleet tankers that are to replace the Durance-class units in French Navy service. Delivery of the first unit of the series had been expected in late 2022. However, in 2021 it was indicated that the delivery date for the first ship had slipped to 2023.
The BRF will have a length of 194 m (636 ft 6 in) long, a beam of 27.4 m (89 ft 11 in), and a draught of 9 m (29 ft 6 in). With a displacement of 16,000 tons, she will have a complement of 130 personnel including 60 passengers.
