An African country contracts for 20 French naval landing ships

[The SC]

According to information published by the French news site “Actu.fr” on January 11, 2022, the French shipyard company CMN Group has started building landing ships for an undisclosed African country. The ship is designed to carry out amphibious operations, transport combat vehicles and troops.

This is the first time that the French group CMG has built landing ships. In 2016, CMN received a contract to build 20 ships for an African country. The first landing ship is scheduled for delivery in the summer of 2023, and another in 2025.

Landing ship (LST) or tank landing ship is the naval designation for ships designed to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo and landing forces directly ashore at docks or docks. These ships enable amphibious assaults on almost any shore.

According to the technical characteristics published by the French website “Actu.fr”, the new CMN landing ship will be powered by two engines and will be able to reach a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km / h). The ship's crew will include 18 sailors.

The new CMN landing ship will be 70 meters long and 10.6 meters wide. Steel hull and superstructure. Watertight bulkheads ensure the ship's survival in the event of damage. The ship will be able to carry up to 200 tons of military equipment, troops and combat vehicles.

The CMN Landing Ship is designed to carry up to 260 soldiers and also has a small 5.25m vessel with a dedicated winch that can be used to perform landings.

 

[FuturePAF]

If I had to guess it’s either Egypt or Morocco

 

[The SC]

If I had to guess it’s either Egypt or Morocco

Same Guess for Egypt..but don't rule out Algeria even more than Morocco..

 

[Tshering22]

20 LSTs..! Looks like someone in Africa is gearing up for serious war. If this is Egypt, it would send alarm bells ringing in Jerusalem.

 

[The SC]

20 LSTs..! Looks like someone in Africa is gearing up for serious war. If this is Egypt, it would send alarm bells ringing in Jerusalem.

Landing craft are used across the range of military operations to deliver vehicles, personnel and cargo from the sea to the shore and from shore to shore (It can be in the same country if the shores are long). LCUs are also used to support Building Partnership missions, to provide dive team or small boat support, to assist in port clearing, to conduct limited surveillance and to support many other missions enabled by their intratheater range and independent operations capability.

Landing craft are also used to support civilian humanitarian/maritime operations.

 

[MH.Yang]

Let France build such a ship? Then it should be West or central African countries.
Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea.
I suspect Cote d'Ivoire or Cameroon.

 

[The SC]

The armies nominated for this deal exclusively are Egypt , Algeria (not to be ruled out) and Morocco, and the balance tends to a large percentage for Egypt for several reasons:

Egypt has the technical and numerical quantity in order to protect these crafts at sea in the form of frigates, corvettes and missile boats, not to mention the Kamov-52 on the Mistral, not to mention the contract for the giant British supply and support ships..

In most Egyptian exercises there are some landing maneuvers..

Morocco has an interest in modernizing its naval forces and had shown interest in Landing crafts previously, but the priority through leaks of its deals, is currently for frigates, corvettes and coastguard boats.

The thing is:



While the source articles in French talk about 2 :
CMN will for the first time build two landing craft with a carrying capacity of 200 tons.
The customer ordered the first delivery in 2023 and the second in 2025.

https://actu.fr/normandie/cherbourg...ite-de-chalands-de-debarquement_47818279.html

https://www.meretmarine.com/fr/cont...nts-de-debarquement-pour-une-marine-africaine

The English article changed the number to 20..but not on purpose..
The 20 ships from CMN were contracted in 2016 and included different categories..

 

[joker88]

Во Франции будут построены два средних десантных корабля для Анголы

Французские ресурсы сообщают, что французская судостроительная группа CMN Group на своей основной верфи в Шербуре начала строительство головного из двух средних десантных кораблей для неназываемой африканской страны. Судя по всему, этой страной является Ангола, поскольку сообщается, что десантные…

bmpd.livejournal.com

The country is Angola

 

[khansaheeb]

Yeah and Egypt the perpetual losers of wars with foreign adversaries will use these LC's to invade it's own shores and persecute and subjugate its own people.

Most likely will invade Gaza and occupy it and disperse the Palestinians on behest of Israel.

Во Франции будут построены два средних десантных корабля для Анголы

Французские ресурсы сообщают, что французская судостроительная группа CMN Group на своей основной верфи в Шербуре начала строительство головного из двух средних десантных кораблей для неназываемой африканской страны. Судя по всему, этой страной является Ангола, поскольку сообщается, что десантные…

bmpd.livejournal.com

The country is Angola

Here is the translation:-

France will build two medium landing ships for Angola
entry is in top500 rating

bmpdJanuary 16th, 6:01 am
French resources report that the French shipbuilding group CMN Group at its main shipyard in Cherbourg has begun construction of the lead of two medium landing ships for an unnamed African country. Apparently, this country is Angola, since it is reported that the landing ships are being built as part of a large contract from September 2016, concluded by the controlling group of CMN Group, Privinvest Holding, to build 20 different ships and boats for this country - and this contract is known to was concluded with Angola for a total of 495 million euros. A design image of a medium landing ship for the Angolan Navy under construction by the French shipbuilding group CMN Group at the shipyard in Cherbourg (c) CMN Group









The medium landing ships being built under this contract in Cherbourg are being built according to the original new CMN development project. The ships have a steel hull and superstructures and an aluminum mast, and are equipped with stern and bow landing ramps. The length of the ship is 70 m, the width is 10.6 m. The ships are capable of carrying up to 200 tons of cargo or up to 260 people. Power plant twin-shaft diesel, speed up to 16 knots, crew 18 people.

The lead landing ship is to be handed over to the customer in the summer of 2023, and the second one by the end of 2025.

It is known that earlier, under this contract in 2016, CMN built and in 2019 handed over to the Angolan Navy three 32-meter high-speed patrol boats of the HSI32 project. In addition, it was reported that under this contract, CMN in Cherbourg should build two patrol ships for the Angolan Navy - a 79-meter 1400-ton project Vigilante 1400 (CL 79) and a small 52-meter 400-ton project Vigilante 400 (CL52). Information about their delivery is not yet available. Also under this contract, the Privinvest holding is to create a shipbuilding and ship repair yard in Angola together with the Angolan state company Simportex.

Privinvest is now nominally registered in the UAE and controlled by the French-based family of Lebanese Maronite businessman Iskander Safa. CMN Group has been owned by Privinvest since 1992.





A design image of a medium landing ship for the Angolan Navy under construction by the French shipbuilding group CMN Group at the shipyard in Cherbourg (c) CMN Group

 

[Tshering22]

Landing craft are used across the range of military operations to deliver vehicles, personnel and cargo from the sea to the shore and from shore to shore (It can be in the same country if the shores are long). LCUs are also used to support Building Partnership missions, to provide dive team or small boat support, to assist in port clearing, to conduct limited surveillance and to support many other missions enabled by their intratheater range and independent operations capability.

Landing craft are also used to support civilian humanitarian/maritime operations.

I understand that.
But the sudden requirement for 20 such ships would definitely raise eyebrows in a region that is not used to making such heavy purchases together.