the British firm Armstrong (which had developed the 100-ton gun) was designing a 160-ton gun, and the German firm Krupp was rumored to be working on a colossal 220-ton gun. At the time, the gun was seen as the primary weapon at sea, since the previously favored tactic of ramming an opponent had been rendered less feasible by the invention of self-propelled torpedoes. The Inspector General of Artillery submitted a report to the French Naval Minister, Léon Martin Fourichon, on 20 November 1876 that recommended a 120-ton gun with a bore diameter of around , which would be able to penetrate the thickest armor then in production. As the power of guns continued to grow, thicker armor was needed to protect the ships; the full side armor of earlier ironclads could not be thickened without prohibitively increasing displacement. French designers differed from their Italian counterparts, opting to retain a complete albeit narrow waterline armor belt instead of Brin's solution, the citadel system supported by a closely compartmentalized layer. The French decision was driven by a desire to protect their ships' ability to maneuver, as the unarmored ends of the citadel ships could be easily damaged and flooded. Continued pressure from the Chamber of Deputies, particularly over the caliber of gun chosen for Amiral Duperré— 48-ton weapons—led the designers to begin work on larger 100-ton guns for the next class, which became Amiral Baudin and Formidable. On 19 January 1878, Louis Pierre Alexis Pothuau, who had succeeded Fourichon as naval minister in 1877, issued a request to shipyards in Brest and Lorient for designs for a new first-rank ironclad armed with either 75-ton or 100-ton guns. He specified the armament could be carried in single barbettes or in twin-gun turrets, both of which were to receive of armor protection. The belt armor was to be of equal thickness. Speed was set at from a two-shaft propulsion system. He also directed that a sailing rig was not to be fitted. They were the first French capital ships to be designed without sails. During a meeting on 30 July, the Conseil des Travaux evaluated several designs and selected the one presented by the naval engineer Charles Godron. The design featured three 100-ton guns in individual barbettes, all on the centerline. Unlike their counterparts in other European navies, the French retained a secondary battery of medium caliber guns, and Godron incorporated a battery of