EDA-R: the Arrival of the First L-CAT

source defense.gouv.fr - ctrédits photo CNIM

25 October 2011 by CNIM - naval-technology.com

The first vessel of the L-CAT family, the EDA-R n°1 (Engin de Débarquement Amphibie - Rapide / Fast Amphibious Landing Catamaran) made by CNIM for the French Navy entered the harbour of La Seyne sur Mer (Var) at the end of June where the sea trials started in the context of the contract of 8 ships made by the French Army in 2010.

The trials which began end of August will be followed, in the forthcoming weeks, by loading and off-loading trials with different military vehicles on various sites (beaches, ramps, quays) as well as connection trials in relation with different ship types (Landing Barges (ex. Foudre) or TCP (ex. Mistral). The EDA-R n°1 will be delivered to the French Navy for admission in the month of October.

The EDA-R n°2 will arrive in La Seyne sur Mer soon and deliver to the French Navy by the end of the year. The two remaining EDA-R vessels of this series of 4 vessels will be delivered in 2012.

The delivery of the first EDA-R to the French Navy is the result of CNIM's major effort covering several years and the strong implication of CNIM's teams to create new and innovative landing crafts in order to place EDA-R as the best in its category.

The vessels extraordinary performances, in terms of ships speed, manoeuvring and loading/unloading capabilities, have been confirmed by the first of series are decisive for the next target, an EDA-R in service with a foreigner navy.