The amphibious helicopter carrier (PHA) Dixmude left the port of Toulon, this Friday, in the direction of the Antilles to provide logistical support and medical equipment to fight against the epidemic of coronavirus.
"Everything went well, it leaves for the Antilles-Guyana zone," confirmed the frigate captain Christine Ribbe, spokeswoman for the maritime prefecture in Toulon. Diksmuide, which should arrive in mid-April in the West Indies, will bring "more than a million surgical masks", "more than 170,000 FFP2 masks" and "several hundred liters of hydro-alcoholic gel", according to a press release from Ministry of the Armed Forces.
Helicopters mobilized for medical evacuations
In addition to the delivery of this medical freight to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic, Diksmuide "may be used (...) to provide logistical or transport missions in order to guarantee populations basic needs", in the part of the military operation Resilience, according to the ministry.
The PHA has four helicopters on board (two Puma from the Army, one Ecureuil from the National Gendarmerie and one EC 145 from Civil Security), as well as "two disinfection teams" from the 2nd Dragoon Regiment. The helicopters can be mobilized among other things for medical evacuations, said the maritime prefecture. After the West Indies, the ship "could then head to Guyana as needed," said the ministry.
A second helicopter carrier to Mayotte
The West Indies are for the moment less affected than mainland France with 11 deaths, according to the latest assessment of the ARS Guadeloupe and Martinique, but the fragility of their health infrastructures, their insularity and their remoteness raise fears of difficulties.
A second helicopter carrier, the Mistral, "will reach Mayotte on Saturday April 4", to provide logistical support to this French territory in the Indian Ocean already affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, he added. The ship contains in particular "amphibious means, helicopters and an on-board battle group which will supplement the manpower of the detachment of the Foreign Legion of Mayotte, thus reinforcing the military and logistical capacities of this permanent unit", argues the ministry.
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- Covid 19
- Coronavirus
- Army
- Toulon
- West Indies
- Overseas