Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide

Class overview
Builders:	Socarenam
Operators:	Marine Nationale
Preceded by:	CDIC
Completed:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Roll-on/roll-off catamaran landing craft
Displacement:	285 tons (light)
Length:	30 m (98 ft 5 in)
Beam:	12.8 m (42 ft 0 in)
Draft:	2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) (fully catamaran mode) 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) (fully load lighter mode)
Propulsion:	Four MTU Friedrichshafen 12V2000 M92 Diesel engines each producing 1220 kW Four Wärtsilä Pump-jets
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) (economical) 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (warranted)
Range:	1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) (laden)
Complement:	8
Notes:	Cargo capacity: 1 Cavalry Platoon including 3 Véhicule Blindé Léger and 3 AMX-10 RC or 1 Reinforced Infantry Platoon including 6 Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé or 1 Field Engineering Platoon or 1 First-Aid Post.

The Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide (EDA-R) is a class of Roll-on/Roll-off catamaran landing craft (L-CAT) ordered by the French Navy. They transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel of the assault elements from Mistral class amphibious assault ships to shore and across the beach.

Design and development

Concept design of the EDA-R began in 2000 at Constructions industrielles de la Méditerranée (CNIM) then was abandoned in 2003 and relaunched in 2008 with the full-scale Landing Catamaran (L-Cat). During the development stage, one prototype was built by Gamelin Shipyard and tested during an autonomous transfer from Saint-Malo to the Military port of Toulon. On 14 October 2008, the prototype of the L-Cat beached on the shores of Toulon.^[1] On March 2010, it offloaded a 54-ton Leclerc main battle tank at Toulon.^[2]

According to CNIM the craft delivers the performance of an aircushion landing craft but at the cost of a conventional landing craft.^[3] Four units have been purchased and were presented to the Navy in January 2011.^[4]

CNIM is proposing a variant of the L-CAT to fulfill the U.S. Army's requirement for a replacement for their aging LCM-8 "Mike boats."^[5]

Operators

 France

• French Navy (4 units)^[6]

 Egypt

• Egyptian Navy (February 2015: 2 built, but not delivered)^[7]

Specifications (EDA-R)

Source: Naval-Technology Fact File^[8]

• Builder: Socarenam
• Date Deployed: June 2011
• Propulsion:
  • Four MTU Friedrichshafen 12V2000 M92 Diesel engines 1220 kW
  • Four Wärtsilä Pump-jets
• Length: 30 metres (98 feet 43 inches)
• Beam: 12.8 metres (42 feet)
• Displacement: 285 metric tons
• Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) with full load, 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) maximum speed, 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) platform lowered.
• Range: 400 nautical miles
• Crew: 8
• Load: 80 tons (110 tons overload in lighter mode)
• Military lift: cargo platform 126m² and 80 tons.
• Armament: two 12.7 mm and two 7.62 mm machine guns.
• Radar:

References

1. Jean-Louis Venne (director) (14 October 2008). Landing Catamaran (L-Cat) démonstration à Toulon (Videotape) (in French). Retrieved 10 February 2010.
2. Jean-Louis Venne (7 April 2010). "Le L-CAT débarque pour la première fois un char Leclerc". Mer et Marine. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
3. Richard Scott (21 February 2007). "Novel L-Cat bridges the gap". Jane's Information Group. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
4. Jean-Louis Venne (20 January 2011). "Le major général de la marine se fait présenter le L-Cat". Le portail des sous-marins. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
5. CNIM is teaming with Fincantieri Marine Group to propose its L-CAT® landing craft to the US Military - Navyrecognition.com, 14 April 2015
6. Bruno Daffix (30 November 2012). "CNIM livre le quatrième EDAR à la Marine nationale" (in French). Mer et Marine. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
7. "BPC russes : La batellerie comprend aussi des EDAR…" (in French). Mer et Marine. 2 February 2015.
8. "CNIM - Landing Craft and Multipurpose Patrol Craft". naval-technology.org. Retrieved 8 February 2010.

External links

• EDA-R specifications on Naval-Technology.org
• 3D animation of the EDA-R