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BIP - Batiment D'Intervention Polyvalent

General de Gaulle's vision, affirming in 1969 that "the activity of mankind will increasingly turn to the exploitation of the sea. And, of course, the ambitions of the States will seek to dominate it to control its resources ... " is particularly evident today.

The assault helicopter carrier, close to Tarawa LPH or Wasp US for a much lower cost, studied by DCN, had taken the name of Multipurpose Amphibious Assault Ship (MAAS) or Multifunctional Intervention Ship [BIP - Batiment D'Intervention Polyvalent]. The aim was to give the aircraft carrier amphibious capabilities and to facilitate the flow of equipment and personnel. The interest of this type of building has been demonstrated on several occasions in amphibious operations carried out by the British (in Suez in 1956, in the Falklands in 1982) or in the Gulf, in 1991, Operation Salamandre during which the aircraft carrier Clemenceau acted as helicopter carrier and troop transport. In this case, the ship could have been equipped with capacities close to the Ro-Ro (Roll on - Roll off) vessels to which would have been added a raft allowing barges to operate from the shore.

The US Marine Corps had a dozen of these vessels with a tonnage close to that of the Charles de Gaulle. However, these vessels are not porte-avions but rather porte-aéronefs. Their air group is composed of Harrier and not aircraft capable of acting in depth as from a real aircraft carrier. In the context of amphibious operations, operations from sea to land, the air superiority necessary for the success of the operation would also be ensured by the aircraft embarked on board the aircraft carriers of the US Navy. Moreover, such a ship would hardly find its place in the French navy, as some of the missions devolved to the American LPH were assumed by its TDC Sirocco and Foudre and by the new generation of TCD whose tonnage will be about 20 000 tons, half that of Charles de Gaulle (40,600 tons).

The disappearance of the Soviet threat on the European continent is the catalyst for dramatic changes in the French amphibious doctrine. The vanishing threat of a high intensity conflict on European soil, along with conflicts such as the Gulf War in 1991, paved the way for a more expeditionary strategy.

In 1992, the exhibition "Euronaval" company DCN presented a draft long-term landing ship with a displacement of about 15,000 tons, called BIP-15 (from Batiment D'Intervention Polyvalent, ie "multi-purpose attack ship") and represents a symbiosis of light aircraft carrier and amphibious assault helicopter carriers dock. The basis of its striking power was to be sufficiently large air group - six heavy helicopters of various types and eight VTOL aircraft that could be used to take off the bow ramp. In addition, the ship had aft docking camera two DKAVP dimension LCAC or four conventional displacement DFA dimension LCM (the last is often called "landing barges").

characteristics	BIP-19
Length	198 m
Beam	50 m
Draft	6,50 m
Air draft	22,60 m
Displacement (full)	19,000 tonnes
Consumables	45 days
Crew	450+15 passengers
Troops	500 soldiers
Engine	CODOG 2x14700Kw + 2x3,8Kw diesel, 2 shafts
Speed	22,5 knots
Range	10,000 min at 15 knots
Air operations	up to Force 6 sea.

A lineup of four versions differed mainly with displacement, the main dimensions and accordingly, the capacity for landing and the composition of the ship's air group The main focus company-developer has made to the advancement of the ship is the international market of naval equipment, for which it was created. The smallest, BIP-8, had a displacement of just 8,000 tonnes and a maximum length of 102 m, and the largest ship, BIP-19 a displacement of 19,000 tonnes and a maximum length of 190 meters [about 620 feet]. The BIP-10 modification and BIP-13 were in the product line.

Basically it was a "scaled down" version of the US Tarawa-class LHD, because as compared to the 40,000 tonnes Tarawa, the BIP had a smaller displacement of 19,000 tonnes. Apart from that it was a similar concept of warship, capable of operating S/VTOL aircratfs and helicopters. It also possessed a well deck for launching smaller landing craft, up to 2 Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft or 4 Landing Craft Utility (LCUs) a would have carried a ready batalion-sized amphibious force, and provided all the necessary logistics.

The same (1994) year, the Chantiers de l'Atlantique (later Aker Yards), proposed a "cheap solution" for troop transport with the NIMIS, for Navire Interarm'e pour MIssion de Soutien (Join Vessel for Support Missions), an transport/logistic ship, designed for non-combat mission in "secured" naval zones. Its price was estimated at 150 millions USD (1994) apiece. The NIMIS was supposed to be "cheap" because it was built folowing civilian methods, instead of military, and its architecture was highly inspired by the car-ferry technologies.

The development of the Mistral type of ship started in 1997 as part of the national research ship concept for amphibious landing operations - CNOA (Concept National des Operations Amphibies, France). In France, a first national concept of amphibious operations was validated in 1997 and revised in 2002. After scoring many pages of history and culminating in the Second World War and the Korean War, amphibious operations in France were forgotten. Since 1997, drawing the conclusions of the new geopolitical situation described in part by the White Paper of National Defense, this field of struggle witnessed a real revival within the French armies.

Largely inspired by the work of the Alliance in this field, the French headquarters set up a new corpus of doctrine. The definition of new equipment would make it possible to perfect a complete and coherent system in this field. Sharing with European partners and in the Alliance the same reflections on the importance of this capacity in the defense of the future.

The BIP is a direct predecessor to Mistral, since studies for the Mistral (then known as the Bâtiments de Projection et de Commandement (BPC), note the closeness of the acronym) began in 1997, around the same time the BIP was forgotten. It seems that the Mistral is "simplified" BIP, concentrating on strictly amphibious missions. It is interesting to note, that the Mistral makes a wide use of civilian technologies (just like the NIMIS), and it can be said the Mistral is in fact a fair compromise between the BIP and the NIMIS. For this reason, the ski-jump and the capability to operate S/VTOL aircraft was suppressed.

In mid-2000, it was officially announced the decision command of the French Navy - to create a new vehicle based on the BIP-19 of the draft, and in June announced a tender, to participate in which invited the two largest French shipbuilding company: DCN and "Chantiers de l'Atlantique» (Chantier de l'Atlantique). Winners will be announced fairly quickly - by the end of the year DCN was awarded a contract to build two new types of ships, and the second party - the status of subcontractor and supplier of individual elements of hull structures.

The lead ship was named "Mistral» (Mistral) - the title of a strong wind blowing in the Rhone Valley region of north and north-west towards the sea (some analogue of the Black Sea forests). This Provencal word began to be used since 1519, in a broader sense, it means right now, and just a strong wind.

In contrast to the basic project of BIP-19 - on the "Mistral" the ships no longer had bow springboard and were not provided basing for VTOL aircraft, although theoretically such an option is not excluded - the flight deck of the ship allows take off and landing. Having a total displacement of about 21 300 t, vehicle length is 210 m (the length of the flight deck 199 m) and width.