An announcement to design and build two new coastal patrol boats was initially issued in May 2020, but received no response.
The new tender published this month covers the design and production of six vessels with an additional batch of 3 vessels as option, their associated services and their maintenance for five years.
The ships will be based in mainland France and in French overseas territories. The planned distribution is as follows: Cherbourg (2), Lorient (1+1 optional), Toulon (1+1 optional), Pointe-À-Pitre, Guadeloupe (1) and Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia (1 + 1 optional).
Regarding the technical specifications, these vessels will have a length of up to 46 meters with a speed of approximately 20 knots. The hull should be made of steel or aluminum.
Each patrol boat will be equipped with a ‘fast intervention boat’ – probably a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) – and electro optic (EO) systems. In terms of armaments, they will be fitted with a 12.7mm remote weapon station as main gun and 2 Mags 7.62mm mountings.
The patrol boats will be able to carry out missions lasting approximately 7 days at sea without refueling. The crew will consist in 16 personnel and with accommodation with an extra 8.
