Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide

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. On March 2010, it offloads one 54-tons Leclerc main battle tank at Toulon.

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

Operators

 * French Navy (4 units)
 * French Navy (4 units)

Specifications (EDA-R)

 * Source: Naval-Technology Fact File


 * 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 kn with full load, 30 kn maximum speed, 12 kn 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: