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11Mer et Marine2014-2015 « INTERNATIONAL SHOWSForce projection «the aircraft lifts can be used to movevehicles to and from extra parkingareas on the flight deck. The BPCdesign also offers accommodationfor 450 troops, or 900 for shortperiods of time.The baseline hospital area isparticularly well equipped. Thestandard 750sq.m configurationoffers 69 beds, a serious burns ward,a medical imagery area with spacefor a scanner, and two operatingtheatres fully equipped for a full rangeof procedures. The medical team canalso use the ship's communicationssystems for remote diagnosis andrelated services in conjunction withshore-based specialists. If necessary,250sq.m of hangar space can beused as a hospital extension. Thisarea being adjacent to the aircraftlifts, patients can be moved quicklyand efficiently to and from evacuationaircraft. With hangar extension wardsand facilities, total capacity comes to119 beds and four operating theatresserved by 100 medical staff, includinga dozen surgeons. Exploiting the flightdeck and well deck to the full, the typeis ideal for humanitarian assistanceand evacuation missions, particularlywhere ports and other infrastructureare lacking or unusable following anatural disaster.BPC derivatives can be tailoredto the needs of different navies,with platforms from 159 to 215mand displacements from 14,000 to28,000t. Classified by Bureau Veritas,these ships are designed to operate inany region of the world, including thecoldest climates. Various standardsare available, and shipboard systemsarchitectures and equipment canbe configured to each customer'srequirements. With the versatileMistral concept, the same class caninclude force projection vessels aswell as smaller ships for humanitarianmissions and logistics operations. Theentry-level Mistral 170, for example,is a compact variant measuring 169mand displacing 14,000t fully loaded. Ithas a maximum speed of 20kts andcan travel 6,000nm at 15kts. The flightdeck features five helo spots, hangarspace for 12 helicopters, garage spacefor 50 vehicles and deck storage spacefor 85 containers. «* In Nato terminology, these ships are classifiedas landing helicopter docks, or LHDs. The BPCbaseline (from bâtiment de projection et decommandement, or projection and commandvessel) features a flush-deck architecture.© MARINE NATIONALE