Jacques Chevalier class BRF, Jacques Chevalier

Mathll · June 15, 2026, 11:59pm

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Hello everyone, and welcome to this new suggestion.

You’re used to seeing me suggest ships that are more ridiculous than the last, and I don’t intend to change that. So here’s the suggestion for the BRF Jacques Chevalier (A725).

The BRFs, or Fleet Supply Ships of the Jacques Chevalier class, are the last supply ships deployed by the French Navy. These ships are designed to resupply the various units of the French Navy, providing them with fuel, supplies, or even munitions such as anti-aircraft missiles, which the BRFs can load directly into the silos of other ships. This class comprises four ships (two delivered so far), the last of which will enter service in 2030. They are intended to replace the older Durance-class ships, which will be the subject of a separate proposal. These ships are of Italian design, based on the plans of the Vulcano-class ships produced by Fincantieri, who also produce part of the hull of the French ships. The remaining hull is produced at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, while the armaments and onboard equipment are supplied by Naval Group.

The Jacques Chevalier is the first ship of this new class of BRFs. Ordered in 2019, the ship has been commissioned in 2022 before entering a testing period that lasted until 2024, the year it entered active service. During this trial period, the French Navy and Naval Group conducted several replenishment missions at sea, including replenishing allied ships such as the aircraft carriers USS Washington and Prince of Wales, to demonstrate the ship’s suitability for joint operations. During its first long-term deployment, the ship had the opportunity to cross several oceans and visit several allied countries, ranging from South Africa to Brazil and Iceland. Since its commissioning, the BRF has participated in various exercises with the French armed forces, notably Exercise Orion 2026, which allowed it to be deployed within a real combat fleet. However, the ship has also been deployed to conflict zones to replenish French vessels, particularly in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War. Although the ship is a supply vessel, it has a special armament enabling it to carry out patrol, interception and control missions at sea. Obviously the history of this ship is short at the moment as it has just entered service, however it is likely to be long, as ships of this class are expected to remain in service for several decades.

The ship is named in honor of Jacques Etienne Chevalier, a French military engineer specializing in naval design. He was one of the engineers who worked on the design of the nuclear reactors for the first submarines. French nuclear-powered submarines (Le Redoutable class).

Characteristics

Length : 194.00 m

Width : 27.00 m

Draft : 9.00 m

Mass : 31.000 tons (full charge)

The ship is powered by a diesel-electric propulsion system consisting of two MAN engines with a unit power of 8MW. This propulsion system allows it to reach a speed of 20 knots and to cover a distance of 8000 nautical miles in one go.

Equipment

Ships of this class are particularly modern and therefore equipped with state-of-the-art detection systems.

Radar :

Scanter 6002 air and sea surveillance radar
Navigation radar

Other :

2 x Safran PASEO XLR electro optical detector and designator

In addition, the ship can accommodate a helicopter in its hangar and operate it from its aft flight deck. The helicopters currently on board are Dauphin or Panther (anti-submarine warfare transport aircraft), but in the future, an H160M Guépard will be stationed on the ship. It should be noted that the aft flight deck is reinforced to allow for the landing of heavy aircraft from other nations, notably American V-22 Ospreys.

Weapons

For a class of supply ship, the Jacques Chevalier class is particularly well armed, this stems in particular from the fact that these ships can be called upon to carry out ancillary missions such as patrol or control at sea.

Guns :

2 x 40mm RAPIDFire (1)
6 x 12.7mm machine guns

Other :

2 x SIMBAD RC system (2)

(1) : The 40mm RAPIDFire S40SA turret is a remotely operated turret capable of engaging all types of targets with high accuracy. The gun is very similar to the one found on the EBRC Jaguar (CT 40) and can engage targets at a range of 4km with a rate of fire of 180 rounds per minute. Available ammunition includes HE, Air Burst, and APFSDS rounds.
(2) : The SIMBAD RC system is developed by MBDA; it is a remotely operated turret equipped with 2 MISTRAL missiles capable of intercepting drone munitions and other aerial targets.

This ship obviously won’t be added to the game immediately; however, if a similar ship were to be introduced, it would be a particularly interesting addition to the French tech tree, providing a large tonnage vessel equipped with weapon systems capable of defending against lightly armed ships as well as aerial threats. Furthermore, if this ship were to be added with its attack helicopter, it would be even more appealing, significantly increasing its combat capabilities.

Pictures

Video

A la découverte du Jacques Chevallier, 1er BRF pour la Marine Nationale
Triple ravitaillement à la mer pour le BRF Jacques Chevallier

Sources

JamesPond1200-psn · June 16, 2026, 4:54am

These very large but lightly armed ships would take some work to balance, but I think since this has missiles it could be very fun! +1

CharAznable3 · June 16, 2026, 5:01am

Plus 1 to cargo boat bringing the pain train to shores near you!