Kership

French Offshore Patrol Ship L'Adroit
Class overview
Name	Kership
Builders	Piriou Shipyard
Operators	French Navy (1 - former)   Gabonese Navy (2 -deferred)   Argentine Navy (4)
Preceded by	Gowind-class corvette
Planned	4
Completed	4
Active	4
General characteristics
Class & type	Kership (L'Adroit specifications)
Displacement	1,650 t (1,650 t) (full load)
Length	87 m (285 ft)
Beam	11 m (36 ft)
Draught	3.3 m (11 ft)
Installed power	Electrical:
Propulsion	2 Anglo Belgian Corporation V12 diesel engines, 5.6 MW (7,500 hp)
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (14,800 km; 9,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Endurance	30 days
Boats & landing craft carried	2 × 9 m (30 ft) RHIBs
Complement	30 core crew, up to 29 troops
Sensors & processing systems	DCNS Polaris combat management system Terma Scanter 6002 I-Band surface search radar Terma Scanter 4102 I-Band air and surface search radar Sagem EOMS (Electro Optical Multisensor System) NG Sagem SIGMA 40D Inertial measurement unit LinkSrechts Helicopter visual landing aid system
Electronic warfare & decoys	Thales Altesse & Vigile LW ESM/COMINT system Lacroix Defense & Security Sylena decoy system
Armament	1 × 30 mm cannon 2 × .50-cal machine guns
Aircraft carried	1 × 5-tons helicopter or 1 × 10-tons helicopter (supported) Schiebel Camcopter S-100 [1] (not acquired by Argentina)
Aviation facilities	helicopter pad and hangar

The Kership class is a range of steel monohull offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) built by Kership, a joint venture of French civil shipbuilder Piriou (55%) and Naval shipbuilder DCNS (45%).

History

The ships were originally part of the Gowind class but after a rearrangement of products DCNS decided to remove the OPV from the Gowind class and develop the OPVs as a class of their own with L'Adroit top of the range. To do so it formed the Kership joint venture with the Piriou shipyard in Concarneau, Brittany in May 2013 to build and market lightly armed and armoured OPVs for customs, fishing and other home security missions. DCNS said this would enable it to concentrate on "developing relations" with clients seeking, heavily armed and armoured warships while Kership handles the more civilian-standard OPVs. ^[2]

After repeated negotiations and break-offs, in February 2018 the Argentine Navy was instructed to restart negotiations with Naval Group for the procurement of four Gowind-class vessels. The decision was motivated by the meeting between Argentine President Mauricio Macri and French President Emmanuel Macron at the annual World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland. An order for four vessels was expected in July 2018. ^[3] In November 2018, Argentina confirmed the purchase of four Gowind-class vessels. The purchase includes the already-built L'Adroit, which in 2016 visited the region on a marketing trip, and three new vessels. ^[4] Four ships, one being transferred from the French Navy, entered service between 2019 and 2022.

Vessels

Argentina (incl. one former French vessel)

On 9 May 2010, DCNS started the building of one self-funded 1,410t Gowind patrol corvette called L'Adroit ^[5] and announced that the craft will be made available to the French Navy between 2012 and 2015. ^[6] The vessel is designed for patrol and sovereignty enforcement in littoral and exclusive economic zone waters and offers three weeks' endurance and a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi). Missions include special forces deployment by launching within 5 minutes and recovering two UFAST UFR 9.30 rigid-hulled inflatable boats from a stern ramp. It was sold to Argentina in 2018 and commissioned as ARA Bouchard. Three additional vessels were then acquired under a new construction contract with France.

Gabon

On 29 October 2014, Ernest Mphouho Epigat, defence minister for the Gabonese Republic signed a contract with Piriou to supply two offshore patrol vessels to the Gabonese Navy. One was to be of the Kership design. The unnamed vessel was called OPV50 by Piriou. ^[7] However, the purchase was reportedly deferred in 2016. ^[8]

Specifications

• Length overall 58.20 m
• Beam 9.50 m
• Draught 2.70 m
• Speed 21 kn
• Range 5,000 NM at 12 kn
• Hull / superstructure steel / aluminium
• Accommodation capacity 36 pers.

– crew 28 pers. – special personnel 8 pers.

• Weaponry

– 1 x 20 mm gun on the fore-deck – 2 x 12.7 mm machine guns

References

1. Blama, Andrea. "CAMCOPTER S-100 Integration into DCNS New Class of Offshore Patrol Vessel" (PDF). Schiebel. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
2. "Egypt buys four Gowind corvettes". Aviationweek.com. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
3. Higuera, Jose (2 February 2018). "Argentina restarts talks with Naval Group for Gowind OPVs". IHS Jane's 360. Santiago. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
4. "Argentina confirms the purchase of four French OPVs". IHS Jane's 360. 30 November 2018. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
5. "Le premier patrouilleur du type Gowind sera baptisé L'Adroit" (in French). meretmarine.com. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
6. Tran, Pierre (4 May 2010). "DCNS To Finance OPV, Offer It to French Navy". defensenews.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
7. "Gabonese Navy signs contract with PIRIOU for 2 offshore patrol vessels" (PDF). Kership.com. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
8. "Gabon's naval purchases deferred?". Defence. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2025.