The French state-owned shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique has launched the third Chevallier-class Logistic Support Ship (LSS) (up to 31,000 tonnes) for the French Navy. With the „Émile Bertin“, the Franco-Italian programme managed by the European armaments agency OCCAR has reached another important milestone. Following outfitting, system integration and testing, the ship is to be transferred from Saint-Nazaire to Brest and handed over in 2027.

It is named after the French naval engineer Émile Bertin (1840 to 1924), who had a decisive influence on modern warship construction and contributed to the development of hydrodynamic testing in France.

The programme currently comprises six ships with accompanying logistical operational support: four units for the French Navy and two for the Italian Navy. Italy holds an option for a third ship.

The „Émile Bertin“ is the fifth ship in the programme and the third French unit after the „Jacques Chevallier“ (A725, in service since 2024) and „Jacques Stosskopf“ (A726, undergoing trials). The two Italian Vulcano-class ships „Vulcano“ (A5335) and „Atlante“ (A5336) have already been delivered by the Italian shipyard Fincantieri and are already in service.

With the new vessels, France and Italy are strengthening their maritime supply capabilities and improving the interoperability of European naval forces.

Background

OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'Armement/ Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) is an international armaments agency headquartered in Bonn, which essentially supports European armaments programmes over their entire life cycle. It was founded in 1996 and manages projects to increase efficiency, e.g. A400M, BOXER, TIGER and the RCH 155 wheeled howitzer. The founding members were France, Italy, the UK and Germany. Today, Belgium and Spain are also members. In addition, many European countries participate as non-members, as well as the EU as an organisation and three international partners with Australia, Japan and Brazil.

kdk, NavalNews