The French Navy (Marine Nationale) today operates four ageing Vulcain-class diving support vessels (known as BBPD for « bâtiment-base de plongeurs démineurs »). The first ship-in-class, Vulcain, was launched in October 1986. All four vessels are set to be replaced by new generation vessels as part of the BBPD NG program, itself part of the larger SLAMF/MMCM program.
The program is still in the early stage: The French MoD only gave limited information to describe its need. The BBPD NG would have a steel or aluminum hull, a maximum length of 60 meters and a speed of around 13 knots.
Mission equipment should include two light craft, one diving chamber, a crane and « some » machine gun mounts for self-protection. Each vessel is requested to be able to accommodate between thirty and forty personnel for missions of up to 10 days at sea (without resupply).
The BBDP NG will be home-ported at Cherbourg (Normandy), Brest (Brittany) and Toulon (Southern France) naval bases, where they will start providing at-sea support to the French Navy’s three groups of clearance divers.
The current fleet was once again heavily used during this past summer: The sole BBPD Vulcain having neutralized 83 naval ammunitions representing 3.6 tons of explosive in a few weeks.
According to the next French Military Planning Law (LPM), at least three BBPD NG will be in service with the French Navy by 2030. If the target is currently set at four units, the LPM plans to raise the ambition to five vessels by 2035.
