The Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide (EDA-R) is a class of French roll-on/roll-off catamaran landing craft (L-CAT) operated by the French and Egyptian navies. They transport vehicles, cargo and personnel from s to shore.

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. In March 2010, it offloaded a 54-ton 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 the French Navy in January 2011.

In October 2016, CNIM revealed a new variant called L-CAT shore-to-shore, designed for smaller navies that do not have larger amphibious ships to deploy landing craft from. It has a bigger hull to accommodate more personnel and provide improved seakeeping, with an expanded length of and beam of , with seating increased from 40 to 54. The L-CAT shore-to-shore can carry enough fuel to travel without payload, or with a 100-ton payload, and be able to move at empty and with a full load. Because of its potential to operate independently, it is fitted with the LYNCEA naval mission management system, and can be mounted with various features such as two unmanned 20 mm guns or a towed array system providing submarine detection capabilities.

Operators

French Navy (4 units)

Egyptian Navy (February 2015: 2 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: with full load, maximum speed, 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:

See also Landing Craft Air Cushion Lebed-class LCAC Type 726 LCAC Solgae-class LCAC Tsaplya-class LCAC Zubr-class LCAC

References

External links

EDA-R specifications on Naval-Technology.org 3D animation of the EDA-R