French ship Monge (A601)

Monge arriving in Reykjavík Harbour in May 2012
History
France
Name	Monge
Namesake	Gaspard Monge
Ordered	25 November 1988
Builder	Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire
Laid down	26 March 1990
Launched	6 October 1990
Commissioned	5 November 1992
Identification	Hull number A 601
Status	Ship in active service
General characteristics
Type	Tracking ship
Displacement	17,760 long tons (18,040 t) standard 21,040 long tons (21,380 t) full load
Length	225.6 m (740 ft 2 in)
Beam	24.8 m (81 ft 4 in)
Draught	7.7 m (25 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	2 × SEMT Pielstick 8PC 2.5 L400 diesel engines 7,800 kW (10,400 hp) 1 × shaft 1 × 1,360 kW (1,820 hp) bow thruster
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	15,000 nmi (28,000 km; 17,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	115 + 90 military and civilian technicians
Sensors and processing systems	1 × Thomson-CSF DRBV air search radar 1 × Gascogne missile tracking radar 2 × Armor missile tracking radar 1 × Savoie missile tracking radar 1 × Stratus trajectory tracking radar 6 × Antares telemetry radar
Armament	2 × 20 mm modèle F2 gun 2 × 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine guns
Aircraft carried	1 × Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter
Aviation facilities	650 m2 (7,000 sq ft) platform 180 m2 (1,900 sq ft) hangar, can operate heavy helicopters.

Monge (A601), named after the 18th century mathematician Gaspard Monge, is a unique missile range instrumentation ship of the French Navy dedicated to tracking and measuring rocket trajectories. She was built for the trials of the submarine-launched ballistic missiles of the French Navy, and is also used to monitor the launch of Ariane rockets. The ship was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire and was launched on 6 October 1990. The vessel entered service on 5 November 1992 and is based at Brest, France.