D'Entrecasteaux-class patrol ship

Missions and background France holds the largest exclusive economic zones (EEZ), totalling one million km2 in the Indian Ocean and 1.7 million km2 in the Southern Ocean. To enforce law in these areas, the French Navy has deployed a number of ships suitable for low-intensity engagements and with flexible capabilities: s, s and s, all Cold War designs, have been deployed in this role, and stop-gap measures such as were taken. More recently, the French Navy has procured classes of ship specifically designed for law enforcement and public service in the EEZ, such as the s. In the 2010s, the aging BATRAL, , based in Nouméa, was decommissioned in April 2013 In March 2006, the Service des Programmes Navals (SPN, "Naval Programme Service") started to study a replacement for the five BATRALs and for Albatros. The ships initially envisioned would have been typed ''Bâtiments d'intervention et de souveraineté'' (BIS, "Intervention and Sovereignty Ships"); although they were to dispense with the amphibious capabilities of the BATRAL, they were to accommodate a company-sized force (120 men and 20 vehicles, including armoured vehicles). a modified version of the M.OPV was co-contracted to Piriou and DCNS; a joint venture, Kership, was founded for the project. Expenses of the contract, amounting to 100 million euro, The hulls are built in Poland, The ships were to displace over 1,000 tonnes, have a length between , and machinery capable of . File:D Entrecasteaux-IMG 9430.JPG|Bulbous bow and bow thruster File:D Entrecasteaux-MG 9715.JPG|Rudder and propellers == Features and capabilities ==

The B2M are designed for a range of low-intensity, high-endurance missions in the French EEZ, from bases in the Overseas collectivities. As such, they feature a relatively low maximum speed of , but are able to operate for 30 days without resupply, and are designed for a high availability of 200 days at sea per year. One of their main task is maritime law enforcement, particularly in the domain of commercial fishing and against illegal immigration, Drug trafficking and piracy. The B2M provide a limited capability of power projection, as they can ferry a 20-man force, along with equipment and two vehicles; as the missions of the B2M are joint between the various ministries responsible for the maritime actions of the State, these forces can belong to any arm of the French Military, to the Gendarmerie or the Police. They carry an boat and several rigid-hulled inflatable boats, and can deploy frogmen as well as remotely operated underwater vehicles. The ship can also accommodate a medical team to be deployed during humanitarian emergencies. To assist ships of distress, the B2M can develop a 30-tonne bollard pull and have extensive anti-fire capabilities. They furthermore feature a crane capable of lifting 12 tonnes with a reach, or 10 tonnes at . This allows autonomous loading and unloading of standard containers, a useful capability for humanitarian operations in disaster areas. == Operational service ==

''D'Entrecasteaux was severely damaged by fire in July 2021. The loss of the ship for an undetermined period temporarily left the French Navy with no operational vessel in the waters around New Caledonia due to the simultaneous incapacitation of the surveillance frigate and the patrol vessel . To address the gap, her sister ship Bougainville was temporarily redeployed from Tahiti to New Caledonia. By early 2022, La Glorieuse was again active while D'Entrecasteaux'' was repaired and declared operational once again in May 2022. Between January and March 2024, Champlain conducted a two month patrol in the Scattered Islands of the southern Indian Ocean. During the patrol she seized of methamphetamine from a drug smuggling vessel. == Ships ==