French Navy’s 1st LSS Jacques Chevallier conducts sea trials

December 28, 2022, by Fatima Bahtić

French Navy’s logistic support ship (LSS) Jacques Chevallier has logged its first nautical miles at sea with conducting its maiden sea trials.

As informed, the vessel went to sea on 20 December. During this period, several platform systems have been tested by the Temporary Consortium to prepare for the next trials at sea.

The shipbuilder Naval Group launched Jacques Chevallier, the first of the four force replenishment vessels (BRF – Bâtiments Ravitailleurs de Force in French) of the French Navy’s FLOTLOG program in May this year.

The FlotLog program is part of Franco-Italian cooperation led by OCCAR on behalf of the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) and its Italian counterpart NAVARM, within the logistic support ship (LSS) program.

The BRFs, which will replace the French Navy’s Durance-class ships, have a mission of logistical support of the combat vessels of the French Navy deployed as part of the naval air group or naval task groups. With a capacity of 13,000 cbm, they carry fuel, ammunition, spare parts, as well as food for the vessels. These tankers will also participate to support missions for inter-allied operations, underlining the need for interoperable equipment.

This new series of logistics fleet is equipped with self-defence capacities. The combat system of the four ships, whose architecture is based on Naval Group’s combat management system, is expected to ensure the protection against close threats and the fight against asymmetric surface and air threats.

Jacques Chevallier, named after the naval engineer and father of French nuclear propulsion, will carry up to 31,000 tons at full load, making it the second heaviest ship in the French Navy, after the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. It will be based in Toulon.

Main Characteristics of the vessels:

Overall length: 194 meters
Overall width: 27.60 meters
Crew capacity: 190 people, including 130 crew members and 60 passengers
Total deadweight: 14,870 tons.

The delivery of the LSS Jacques Chevallier to the French Navy is scheduled for 2023, four years after the signature of the LSS contract in January 2019.