Eridan class Tripartite minehunter poster

The Tripartite type, named in France "Eridan class" is a series of 40 minehunters designed according to a common project with the Belgian, French and Dutch navies in the 1970s.

They were built in cooperation during the 1980s.

France was in charge of the mine hunting equipment, Belgium supplied the electronic equipment and the Netherlands carried out the propulsion system.

With a length of 51 meters for 560 tons, their crew is made up of 47 sailors, including 5 officers.

They are propelled by three Turbomeca Astazou IVM1 gas turbines positioned well above the waterline, which allows

better acoustic discretion during the mine hunting phase. They are equipped from the outset with autonomous underwater robots named in the French and Belgian navies “PAP” for “Poisson Auto Propulsé” from ECA Group.

Their fixed self-defense armament is light, with only machine guns, and on French ships, a 20 mm cannon, but it is possible to add equipment occasionally such as the Milan missile firing station.

These ships should remain active in the French Navy until the end of the decade.