Naval Group Delivers Offshore Patrol Vessel to Argentina

French Naval Group has delivered first of the four ordered Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) designated as A.R.A. BOUCHARD (formerly L’Adroit) to the Argentinian Navy.

"Today, it was handed over to the Argentinian Navy two months ahead of schedule and after only ten months of upgrade and modernization works," Naval Group said in a statement Friday.

The first ship delivery falls within the scope of the contract concluded with Argentina, which has chosen in February to equip its Navy with four OPVs 87 including L’Adroit. The three others OPVs will be delivered from April 2021 at the pace of one unit every six months.  

The company has modified the combat system in order to make it compliant to the customer’s needs, enhanced the ship’s capacities by modifying the propulsion system, increased its autonomy by reinforcing its freshwater production capacity and has equipped the ship with a 30 mm gun.  

The Argentinian Navy’s future crew also received specific navigation training from Naval Group’s team. Naval Group also provided associated logistical and documentary support. 

The OPV 87 can be involved in several military missions but also fisheries policy and maritime security, especially the Atalante European anti-piracy operation, L’Adroit demonstrated its efficiency and the relevance of the innovations developed by Naval Group to serve navies, special forces and coast guards, the company said.

The BOUCHARD is equipped with the Polaris system. The Offshore Patrol Vessel is able to stay on the high seas during more than three weeks, to attain a speed of 20 knots and to accommodate a helicopter. Implemented by a reduced crew of forty members, it is also able to accommodate about twenty extra passengers. The boat has a length of 87 meters, displacement of 1,650 tons and endurance of over 7,000 nautical miles. It can house two light crafts of 9 meters and one 10 ton class helicopter.