Discover the French Navy's New OPV for the Indo-Pacific

Presentation of the first POM (Patrouilleur Outre-Mer or Offshore Patrol Vessel - OPV - for the overseas territories), the "Auguste Bénébig", by its commander. This new French Navy (Marine Nationale) vessel will be based in Noumea, New Caledonia, in the Southern Pacific Ocean.
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This new class of modern OPVs marks the renewal of the assets of the French Navy based overseas to protect French interests in the Indo-Pacific.
The increased autonomy of the patrol boat and its state-of-the-art equipment give it the capacity to operate far and for a long time in the wide French maritime zones in the Indo-Pacific.
This class of ships was designed by SOCARENAM. It can implement the SMDM drone. The POM vessel are 79.9 meters long and 11.8 meters wide, with a draft of 3.5 meters for a displacement of 1,300 tons at full load.
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[@montys420-]

Great to see the French back in the pacific.

[@marcofava]

They've allways been there, the Floreal Class has never left the Pacific or Indian Ocean, and they'll be replaced by European Patrol Corvettes

[@--Dani]

More France in the area can only mean more peace and stability 👍🇨🇵

[@298okra2]

French vessel’s presence in the Indo-Pacific is a great contribution to the peace and stability in the region.

[@dutch6390]

👍

[@arturojimenez2477]

Good Vessel French

[@leejohnson6477]

Naval News is the best channel on KZbin - peerless !

[@Cartoonman154]

I like the wood fittings on the bridge.

[@shriharikedar6602]

🇮🇳 ❤ 🇫🇷

[@dannyblackwell2426]

nice looking ship

[@arturojimenez2477]

Made in Naval Group

[@pototskyjhonpaul1599]

Jaime...

[@Nainara32]

The drone recovery net at 2:45 looks cool but also a little sketchy. The target is such a small box it seems like in high seas conditions the drone could easily hit the net bars or miss entirely.

[@NavalNews]

The ScanEagle UAV has to catch a single "string" (so to speak) with its wing-tip to be recovered

[@Dr.MichaelVlahos]

M. Vavasseur, as a loyal subscriber and avid observer of your videos, please, please let us know where we might obtain such a magnificent jacket, in such understated and yet sublime camouflage! A sincere request!

[@chrysboulissiere1254]

Alors dans ces zones exclusives il faudra accroître le nombre de patrouilleurs ou de drones sous marins afin de protéger nos eaux ? Est ce que vous savez s il existe un plan et avec quel moyen sur le long thermes sur ces zones et comment s organise la pyrite Tino des fonds marins aussi ?

[@normanarmslave5144]

Is this the rumored follow up order by philippines for new OPV

[@watermirror]

No. It's Ocea, a different French company

[@LOLOVAL-os3pq]

c'est vraiment un très beau bâtiment , c'est un navire militaire mais il fera avant tout de la surveillance contre le trafic de drogue , l'immigration ou contre la pêche illégale , à ceci , il peut faire de la surveillance contre la pollution ! c'est plus un travail de Gendarmerie ou de Police enfin de compte !!!

[@watermirror]

It's only a matter of time that ship will apprehend a Chinese militia trawler

[@GSteel-rh9iu]

or 300 militia trawlers super powerful République Française!

[@dbyers3897]

These vessels do not impress me. For example, launching UAVs using rubber bands is hardly SOTA. The RCN's Vigilance Patrol Vessels look more promising.

[@arnolfocomposto5096]

Very small, for the Pacífic.

[@Itachi951000]

Not really for their role. The POM are patrol vessels on the larger side (1,300 tons, full displacement). They are a replacement for the P400 patrol vessels (373 tons, full displacement). They are not surface combatants and shouldn't be seen as such. The main French warships based in the region will be the Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvettes (MMPC), also known as European Patrol Corvettes (EPC). They'll be replacing the Floréal-class surveillance frigates and are only "corvettes" in name as they'll have a larger displacement than the Floréal, be far more capable and better armed as well. Their armament will include VLS for surface-to-air, surface-to-surface or anti-ship missiles, as well as torpedoes tubes, so like modern high-quality frigates. The Floréal frigates are 30 years-old and currently only have a single 100 mm naval gun and two 20 mm modèle F2 guns as weapons to give you some perpective.

[@lordtemplar9274]

Not true, it's an OPV that is for monitoring maritime traffic and police illegal fishing and smuggling. This ship is 80m long and has a 1300 ton displacement , the Australian navy equivalent (Evolve Cape class) is 57m long with a 400 ton displacement

[@paxundpeace9970]

@@lordtemplar9274 Australian equivalent is the Arafura-class offshore patrol at about 1400 tons

[@lordtemplar9274]

@@paxundpeace9970 ok thanks 👍

[@TerribleTezza]

I mean no offence here however, what are the offensive capabilities of the ship? Has this ship only got a 20mm gun to do anything with? So a ship that cost say 100 million to build has a 20mm gun for protection ?

[@lordtemplar9274]

It's a patrol ship not a warfare vessel. All it does is to protect fisheries, monitor civilian shipping traffic and help prevent smuggling (drugs, migrants, etc...). A 20mm is more than you will ever need for such tasks. The equipment that is actually used is the drone for added surveillance and the RHIB to board ships for inspections (check ship's manifest, cargo, fishing licenses etc...).

[@TerribleTezza]

@@lordtemplar9274 any idea what type of warfare vessel the French are using to protect its interest in the indo pacific then. I don't hear much about smuggling and fishery issues in Tahiti or Noumea?

[@lordtemplar9274]

@@TerribleTezza since the end of the cold war this has been neglected. AFAIK there are no dedicated warfare vessels based there permanently, instead Navy sends some frigates/corvettes for limited time missions. Typically in the past they were Floreal class, A69 Aviso or Lafayette (FLF) class ships, but usually not the front line ships like Horizon or Fremm. Not sure what assets are currently there but a Lafayette class and a Mistral class LHD are headed now to the Indo-Pacific with Jeanne d'Arc mission 2023 for a 5 month mission. However, It is not all doom and gloom with current situation (Ukraine, China becoming more assertive) the French govt has woken up and decided to reinvest in its military after years of downgrading, and they have also promised to do more in the region in the years to come. Currently planned/in progress. French navy is building 5 FDI frigate (replace FLF class), developping 8 EPC corvette (replace Floreal) and 10 Patrouilleur Haute Mer/Oceanique (Blue water patroller to replace A69 Aviso). All expected to be completed by 2030. How these assets are deployed is being discussed currently in govt LPM 2024-2030), as well as possibly more hulls since govt is pushing for substantial increase in military spending in its proposed LPM 2024-2030. We will know morei n coming months when this budget is passed.

[@DerHossMeister]

Certainly seems to be a ship for the Maritime Gendarmerie....even the missions described are Coast Guard oriented.

[@DerHossMeister]

@@lordtemplar9274 so why is it in the French Navy and not the Maritime Gendarmerie?

[@emjackson2289]

Vital to protect the Pacific from PRC naval intervention and PRC illegal fishing

[@robertmaheu7583]

rather the old ships actually had weapons this has nothing ?

[@MrKnotSlow]

Nexter remote weapon station.

[@robertmaheu7583]

@@MrKnotSlow yeah a 20mm whats that going to do against a chinese frigate operating out of timor ?

[@MrKnotSlow]

It’s an EEZ patrol vessel, not a warship! It would need much more than just a weapon upgrade to do that (sensors, effectors, crew) and that would significantly increase both capital and operational cost, when it simply isn’t the intended mission.

[@Itachi951000]

It is a new class of patrol vessels (1,300 tons) replacing the P400 patrol vessels (373 tons). Where did you read the P400 "actually had weapons" or which old ships are you refering to? It's like complaining about a utility vehicle not having Buggati Divo features lol.The POM isn't supposed to be a surface combatant (corvette, frigate, destroyer). The French surface combatants based in the region will be the upcoming Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvettes.... which are essentially frigates. They'll be replacing the Floréal-class surveillance frigates. And yes, they will be armed with better guns and contrary to the Floréal (which only has one 100 mm gun and two 20 mm guns), the MMPC will have VLS for missiles, torpedoes tubes, etc.

[@robertmaheu7583]

@@Itachi951000 well i guess thats something when China eventually attacks they wont care what little weapons the ship has they will just sink it. find it useless that military assets are so poorly armed like My countries newest ship artic patrol boat the navy calls a warship but only has a 20mm gun even though its the size of a cruiser and is supposed to deter nuclear submarines and nuclear ice breakers... useless

[@Richard-od7yd]

The Chinese don't exactly have a rich Naval tradition !!🫡🇺🇸

[@TheGreatMarathaArmy]

Interviewer known much more about ship than the captain..... There's a race going on between China and west to control Indo-pasific, because of the strategic and trade routes of Indian ocean.....France should be member of the QUAD GROUP.

[@Itachi951000]

That's Xavier for you lol. But I think perhaps the captain is not that comfortable with English. You can tell he is at times looking for words.