The French Ministry of Defence, through the Directorate General of Armament (DGA), has begun a competitive tender process for the construction and delivery of new coastal patrol boats for use by the country's National Gendarmerie police force.
The tender calls for six newbuild patrol boats and three optional boats. The contract will also cover maintenance and associated services for up to five years following the vessels' delivery.
Each vessel must have a steel or aluminium hull, a length of no more than 46 metres, accommodations for 16 crew and eight additional personnel, and deck space for one rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB). It must also be able to sail at speeds of approximately 20 knots and stay out at sea for up to seven days.
The armament on each boat will include a 12.7-millimetre machine gun on a remote weapon station and two manually-operated 7.62-millimetre machine guns.
The new vessels are slated to replace four existing Gendarmerie boats.
