{"id":26761,"date":"2019-12-06T20:21:44","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T20:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/06\/france-orders-six-patrol-ships-equipped-with-drones-and-able-to-secure-prisoners\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:04:13","slug":"france-orders-six-patrol-ships-equipped-with-drones-and-able-to-secure-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2019\/12\/06\/france-orders-six-patrol-ships-equipped-with-drones-and-able-to-secure-prisoners\/","title":{"rendered":"France orders six patrol ships, equipped with drones and able to secure prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PARIS \u2014 France has ordered six 70-meter-long (230-feet-long) offshore patrol vessels from Socarenam, a shipyard in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the country\u2019s northern coast, to patrol its vast economic exclusive zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement was made earlier this week by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Maritime Economy Congress in Montpellier, southern France. These kinds of announcements are usually either made by the minister for the armed forces or by the DGA procurement agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the president\u2019s announcement, the Armed Forces Ministry said in a statement that the ships had been ordered \u201cin a context of increasing threats to our fishing resources, biodiversity and international maritime rules.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“France intends to fully exercise her sovereignty and responsibilities both in her metropolitan and overseas territories,\u201d the statement continued. France has the largest economic exclusive zone in the world, at about 4,514,000 square miles. By comparison, the United States\u2019s EEZ comes in at about 4,383,000 square miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each vessel\u2019s draft is no more than 3.8 meters, has a maximum speed of at least 22 knots that it can hold for 24 hours but with a normal cruising speed of between 12 to 14 knots, and has a range of 5,500 nautical miles. This enables the ships to stay at sea for a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French media reports the ships are likely to carry a 20mm remotely controlled gun and machine guns, but no official weapons specifications have been published. The tender and the technical specifications, issued by the DGA in 2018, called for the ships to be able to deploy a 700-kilogram-class rotor-blade drone, and to be able to keep it under cover. The tender also said the ships should be able to deploy divers and two high-speed intervention boats, as well as keep six prisoners secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\t