L’Adroit is a very innovative design that performs mainly as a testbed for the various electronic systems, equipment and the novel features of the design itself.
Introduce
Despite being in a recession, France continues to pursue plans to build naval forces capable of deploying power on water, underwater and from the air.
According to Defense News, budget constraints led to the French Navy making some choices, but by 2025 this force will have all the necessary capabilities to perform different types of missions, one of these missions is maritime protection. L’Adroit is a Gowind-class patrol vessel specially designed by DCNS for these missions.
It has a wide range of capabilities deployed through prevention and action assets optimized for maritime surveillance and policing duties, including fast commando boats, assault or transport helicopter, unmanned surveillance vehicles, electronic warfare intercept systems, shell doors, secure high-bitrate communication facilities and command aids.
Design
The Gowind design is a family of steel monohull corvettes developed since 2006 by Naval Group, formerly known as DCNS, to conduct for the maritime safety and security missions of the French Navy. The Gowind family includes vessels with lengths from 85 m to 102 m and displacement from 1,000 ton to 2,500 ton.
L’Adroit P725 is the lead-ship of the Gowind class, she was launched in May 2011. She was constructed between May 2010 and June 2011 at Toulon naval base in France. She was officially christened in June 2011 and sea trials began in July 2011.
L’Adroit is a very innovative design that performs mainly as a testbed for the various electronic systems, equipment and the novel features of the design itself.
The superstructure of the ship has a pyramidal shape with flat geometric panels. It provides shelter for a 5-ton helicopter such as the Eurocopter AS565 Panther, Westland Lynx and SA-330 Puma. L’Adroit has a flight deck where 10-ton helicopter can land on it such as the NHIndustries NH90 Caiman. All helicopters can be equipped with a variety of weapons such as rocket launchers, 20mm guns, ASW torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. The vessel can carry two rigid-hulled inflatable boats and also has full provisions for UAV operations.
It is worth of mention that this ship’s bridge offers a panoramic 360-degree visibility and also this is the first French warship with a single mast.
L’Adroit has an overall length of 87m, beam of 13m and draught of 3.3m. The full load displacement of the ship is 1,450t. It can complement crew of 30 and has space for 30 passengers. It has an endurance of three weeks.
Propulsion
L’Adroit is fitted with two Anglo Belgian Corporation V12 diesel engines rated at 7,500 horsepower each at 1,000 Revolutions per minute. The engines are powered by two shaft lines with controllable pitch propellers of combined diesel and diesel propulsion system.
Maximum speed of 21 knots and range of 8,000 nautical miles with the speed of 12 knots. The propulsion system includes water-jets which offer superior manoeuvrability in shallow waters.
Armament
The armament of the vessel consists of a single 20mm F2 gun on the foredeck and a variety of machine guns. The gun might be replaced by a Nexter Narwhal 20mm Remote Weapon Station in the future. The 20F2 gun has an outreach of about 2km and can be operated manually and it has a firing rate of approximately 750 to 800 rounds per minute.
The vessel is also equipped with two M2HB 12.7mm heavy machine gun, one at each side of the bridge. There is also one 7.62mm light machine gun and one water cannon.
The foredeck has a large space for installation of missile system if needed, more likely two twin launchers for Exocet surface-to-surface missiles.
Countermeasures
The vessel also features an electronic warfare suite. She has two Lacroix Defense & Security Sylena decoy launchers, a system that protects the ship against radar or infrared-guided missiles. The system is integrated with the Thales Vigile electronic warfare sensor in the DCNS Polaris combat system.
The vessel is equipped with Scanter 20 Terma 01 I-Band surface search radar and Sagem electro optical multisensor system NG. It is also equipped with a Sagem SIGMA 40D inertial measurement unit, LinkSrechts Helicopter visual landing aid system and HF VHF or satellite communications suite.
In all, L’Adroit is a modern instrument for dealing with threats and illegal practices at sea. Which include counter-piracy, fisheries surveillance and environmental protection. It can also be used for humanitarian aid, drug interdiction, as well as rescue and search operations. The vessel is capable of a variety of missions usually associated with offshore patrol of economic zones. It is capable of providing 220 days of at-sea-availability in a year.
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